Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
IGELWARREN
SECOND EDITION
NIGEL WARREN
Drawings by Beryl Riches
ISBN 0-229-11770-8
Typeset by V & M Graphics Ltd, Aylesbury, Bucks
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Mackays of Chatham, Kent
Introduction xi
1 General Ideas I
Suitable engines Sources Recommended practice
2 Engine 8
Ancillary equipment Testing
3 Cooling 15
Radiator and fan cooling Direct cooling Seawater
pumps Water-cooled manifold Exhaust injection and
exhaust pipes Dry exhausts Seawater piping (direct
cooling) Heat exchanger cooling All fresh water cooling
Oil coolers Keel coolers Engine enclosures Pipe size
4 Gearbox 45
Methods of conversion Using the third gears as driving
gears Using the second gears as driving gears Chain
drives Chain around the second gears Other
methods Choice of method Two speeds ahead Chain
selection Conversion Clutch Propeller thrust Oil seal
7 Electrics 93
Circuits Batteries and generators Cables Diesel starting
Petrol engine HT systems
vi
8 Controls and Instruments 100
Clutch and gear lever Throttle Instruments Marine
equipment
9 Diesels 105
Overhauling Cooling Gearbox Mounting and noise
Fuel supply Electrics Turbocharging Current popular
diesel for marinisation
10 Propeller 115
Choosing a propeller Reduction ratios Cavitation Stern
gear Propeller tables Propellers for yachts
11 Noise 138
Practical details Extractor fan Engine cassettes and rafts
14 Corrosion 166
Stainless steel Laying up Galvanic series
Appendices 169
A Suppliers of marinisation kits and equipment Horsepower
B Weights and Measures
C Literature
D Engine oil classification
Ust of Illustrations
1 Through-flow ventilation 17
2 Improving the flow of air through the radiator 18
3 The simplest direct cooling system 20
4 Hand control of temperature 21
5 Thermostatic control of the temperature 21
6 Fabricated welded water-cooled manifold 24
7 Simple exhaust layout 26
7A Water lock system 27
7B Elevated water injected silencer 28
8 Basic heat exchanger cooling 30
9 Usual heat exchanger circuit Engine fitted with marine gear-
box and oil coolers 31
10 Simple heat exchanger made from brazed copper tube and
sheet 33
11 More efficient heat exchanger made from brazed copper sheet 34
12 A fully fresh water cooled circuit 36
13 Oil-cooling pipe in sump 37
14 Keel cooler circuit 39
14A Tank cooling, shallow with baffles 41
14B Friction losses in pipes 43
15 Typical car gearbox 49
16 Conversion by driving layshaft through 3rd gears 51
17 Obtaining reverse using the 1st/2nd gear selector 53
18 Conversion by driving layshaft through 2nd gears 54
19 Conversion by means of chain giving 1 : 1 ahead and astern 55
20 Conversion by means of chain giving approx 2½ : 1 ahead and
astern 56
21 Conversion by means of chain giving approx I½ : 1 ahead and
astern 57.
22 Chain drives 61
23 One handed clutch and gear lever operation 63
24 Single lever operation of gears and clutch 64
2S Propeller thrust guide 65
26 Example of a well retained aft-end ball bearing 66
27 Using car-type components for a flexible drive 70
28 Marine mounts, flexible coupling and flexible stem tube 70
2 9 One method of supporting the engine on its rubber mounts 71
viii
30 A way of draining the engine and gearbox oil when installed
in a boat 72
31 Basic capacity of light-type ball bearings fitted in a plummer
block 73
32 Load capacity of double tapered roller bearings set in a
plummer block 74
33 Solid mounting and drive 77
34 Standard vee-belt drives 83-4
35 Tank, petrol pump and feed system involving a large tank 88
36 Simple gravity feed 90
37 Basic electrical circuit 94
38 Charging circuit with alternator 95
3 9 Cable ratings 97
40 Simple remote control for 1st/2nd or 3rd/4th gear positions 100
41 A good layout for the controls l0l
42 Fuel system layout with DPA injection pump 109
43 Fuel system layout with an in-line injection pump 110
44 Diesel starter keylock switch 112
45 Curves for speed estimation; displacement boats 115
46 Curves for speed estimation; planing boats 116
4 7 'Wake' reductions for use with the propeller tables 117
48 Guidelines for choosing a sensible engine power 119
49 Minimum propeller shaft diameters 124
49A Propeller apertures 125
50 A rigidly mounted engine 138
5 1 Using the engine bearers and hull bottom to form part of the
engine 'capsule' 140
52 The three basic ingredients of noise reduction 141
53 The complete soundproofed installation 143
54 Simple noise trap 144
54A Lay-up of noise-reduction material 146
55 Using SU electric pumps for paraffin conversion 151
SSA Paraffin vapouriser box conversion 151
55B Alternative paraffin conversion 152
56 Up-and-over chain drive 155
57 Raised drive using vee-belts 158
Foreword
Boats provide the ideal field for the amateur innovator-for the
ingenious handyman who likes to modify, improve, extend and
embellish. There are some who like merely to sail or helm their craft,
but there are many more for whom the handling of the boat on the
water is only a part of the pleasure of ownership: the complementary
part is the devoted attention that can be paid to the beloved's physical
well-being.
There are some who are not content merely to tinker but who
must create the boat herself, making and assembling every part in a
long labour of love. There have always been such people, and some
of them (vide Harry Pidgeon) have made world-girdling voyages in
the creations of their own hands. Nowadays there are perhaps more
people than ever who take on this major work of building, or com
pleting, or fitting out their own craft-for there are many routes to
boat ownership.
But whatever the route, whether starting with a log or a ready
moulded and part-finished hull of polyester resin reinforced with
glass fibre, the modern boat almost invariably has an engine. Cold
mechanics intrude where art and eye were once good enough, and the
amateur handyman finds himself faced with a host of problems which
are outside and beyond boatbuilding.
Vibration, cooling, transmission, sound insulation, the matching
of the propeller, the design of a safe fuel system, the choice of
mountings and the avoidance of mutually destructive metals, are
among the problems that the amateur must face and master. For
tunately he has a good friend and guide in Nigel Warren.
And I would earnestly advise any owner to pay great heed to the
valuable information which is collected (for the first time, I believe)
in this book. Engine failures are without doubt the greatest single
cause of trouble in seagoing power craft. Sometimes the fault lies with
the skipper, who has forgotten to take enough fuel-and there are no
service stations on the sea! More often the engine is starved of fuel by
a blockage and that is when the difference between a good and a bad
installation makes itself felt A poor fuel installation leads to other,
even more frightening, dangers if a union shakes itself loose, or a
copper pipe chafes away or cracks. Then fire or explosion may result
X
This is not the place to list all the many causes of engine failure,
but it doesn't take much sea experience to realise that repairs in a
rolling boat are not at all the same thing as they are in the garage at
home. Nor does one have so many tools and spares available, unless
great care and forethought have been given in fitting out the boat.
The man who has installed his own engine must at least be familiar
with it, and he should also have a better idea than most owners of the
spares and tools that he should carry aboard. These are essentially
practical matters, but they are of the first importance for safety,
because a boat without any means of propulsion is automatically in a
most dangerous situation. (The only thing that can be worse is a boat
without the means to stop-without an anchor.)
The world seems sometimes to be divided into the chair-bound
academics and the chaps who roll up their sleeves and get their hands
dirty. Nigel combines both these roles. He has training and qualifica
tions in naval architecture, which he practises in the design office of a
leading shipyard where every aspect of modern technology can be
brought to bear. Back at home, working on his own boats, he must
look to the pennies like the rest of us, and so he knows how to make
do with bits and pieces from the breaker's yard, and the come-in
handy box under the garage bench.
Thus what Nigel writes is both practical, in the sense that you and
I and the chap next door will be able to do it and can afford to do it,
and technically sound because it is based on expert professional
knowledge. Readers of Practical Boat Owner, will know that this is
so, for over a period of years he has been writing a most popular and
useful series of articles on engines, their use and installation. But
magazine articles are one thing and a book is another. We have all
felt the need of a sound and sensible book for the amateur engine
converter and installer. As far as I know there is nothing at all to be
had in the field, so this new work is doubly welcome.
Denny Desoutter
Former Editor, Practical Boat Owner
Introduction
The aim of this book is to help the amateur who is marinising a car
or truck engine and installing it in a boat. The aim is not only to
describe what to do but also to give the whys and wherefores of the
various techniques of conversion.
There is no single best way of fitting a car engine in a boat; there is
a spectrum of conversion ranging from an old banger's engine
dropped straight into the boat at the cost of a few pounds, to a new or
reconditioned truck diesel fully converted with fresh water cooling
and installed with all the sophistications, down to fine details such as
twin batteries and an array of instruments.
There must be thousands of amateur-installed car and truck engines
in boats, some of them weird and wonderful, some sophisti
cated and professional, but they all work and give hours of pleasure,
which is the prime object of the exercise.
In the professional world most 'marine' engines on the market are
basically automotive units intended for a variety of purposes. The
basic engines, usually Ford or British Leyland, are bought by marin
isers and fitted out with marine gearboxes, suitable cooling, starters,
dynamos and other bits and pieces, and sold as complete marine
engines. Provided the marinisation caters for a salty environment and
the needs of boat propulsion there is nothing to be lost over a true
marine engine. Indeed there is everything to be gained because car
and truck engines are highly developed, efficient, reliable and rela
tively cheap as they are made in thousands, unlike true marine
engines. What is more, spares are easily obtainable.
Professional converters have to cater for all types of boats, and
have to provide sufficient cooling so that their engines can run
indefinitely at full throttle in a confined space. The amateur is usually
adapting an engine to a specific boat, and can therefore take liberties
with the installation. Unlike the professional conversion, which tends
to be stereotyped, the amateur can choose any number of ways of
cooling the engine and driving the propeller shaft, often with unusual
results, for instance Balata-belt drives, paddle wheels, running on
paraffin, changing gear to go upwind, and electric or hydraulic trans
mission. In mentioning such unusual amateur boat propulsion
arrangements I am drawing on the varied articles by individuals
xii
which appear in the monthly magazine Practical Boat Owner. In fact,
a large number of the ideas presented in this book are based on ideas
from this source, and to the people who have produced these differ
ent car engine conversions and drives and subsequently put pen to
paper for Practical Boat Owner I hereby say Thank you.
CHAPTER ONE
General Ideas
Conversions can be split broadly into four categories. In the first as
much as possible of the original mechanics is used and the cost kept
down to the absolute minimum. The complete engine including the
radiator, fan, gearbox, articulated propeller shaft and mountings are
used. Propeller thrust is taken through the articulated joints to the
gearbox, which is unmodified, and the engine is kept partially open to
the elements to give sufficient cooling. An installation like this will
give poor power astern, will boil over if run hard for very long, the
articulated joint and rubber mountings will soon fail, salt spray will
cause corrosion everywhere, and the electrics will soon give trouble.
By fitting a thrust bearing, converting the gearbox and enclosing
the engine these problems will be overcome. Better ducting and a
larger radiator will solve the cooling problem so long as the engine is
not run too hard. These modifications cost a few pounds, but make
the installation much more reliable and more compatible with the
requirements of boat propulsion. For inland waters a simple conver
sion like this goes a long way towards perfection. An air-cooled
installation is a boon on inland waters where weed can so often block
the intake of a water cooling system. On inland waters not much
power is needed and the engine can be run quite slowly, so that
overheating is not a problem using a radiator and fan. The soft car
type rubber mounts ensure quiet and vibration-free running.
At sea, where rather more power is required to overcome wind
and tide, sufficient cooling is more easily obtained by using the great
cooling effect of seawater, and the following type of conversion is an
attempt to make a 'marine' engine out of a car engine. The engine is
cooled by fitting a pump to circulate seawater through the block. The
exhaust manifold, which would get too hot without a flow of air over
it, is changed for a water-cooled manifold through which salt water
passes on its way to the block. The engine is solidly bolted down to
engine bearers and the propeller thrust taken on the converted gear
box, or a marine gearbox is fitted instead. All aluminium parts which
would be in contact with the cooling seawater have to be discarded,
otherwise they would soon disintegrate. Many successful conversions
have been achieved by this method, but it is a trifle crude. The engine
runs very cold, below I 00 ° F, the boat vibrates with the engine, and
2
the gearbox is asked to take a large thrust for which it was never
designed.
The fourth broad method of conversion overcomes these objec
tions. A fresh water closed-circuit cooling system is used, as in a car,
but in place of a radiator a heat exchanger is fitted. Seawater is
pumped through the heat exchanger, where heat is transferred from
the fresh to the salt water without the two actually mixing. The fresh
water can then be kept at a healthy 180 °F. Two pumps are required,
but usually the original centrifugal pump fitted to the car engine can
be used for the fresh water side. The water-cooled manifold and the
lubricating oil can be cooled by either the salt water or, preferably,
by the fresh water. Oil cooling becomes necessary when the engine is
enclosed and run hard for long periods. Cooling the block, sump and
exhaust manifold by the fresh water system will ensure that the whole
is kept at a desirable 180 ° F, oil sludging, rapid cylinder wear and
poor combustion being avoided. The original car-type rubber
mounts, if fitted, will prevent transmission of vibration and noise to
the hull, and a separate thrust bearing will take the unfair propeller
thrust load off the gearbox. One can add refinements to make a
'Rolls-Royce' installation with soundproofing, single lever control of
the throttle and gearbox, and by fitting an alternator and separate bat
teries for starting and lighting.
Which method of conversion you choose out of the many possible
combinations will depend on your pocket, the type of boat and her
cruising ground, and any personal preferences you may have.
Suitable engines
Practically all car, truck and tractor engines can be modified for
marine use. Some make simpler convei:sions than others. The diffi
cult car engines- are those which drive the front wheels of an
orthodox car, or the rear wheels in a rear-engined car. It is the
transmission which causes the difficulty. For example, a Mini or
BLMC 1100 engine would make an excellent boat engine but for the
fact that the differential is in the sump, and there are two output
drives to the two front wheels. The overall ratio between the engine
and the output flanges, even in top gear, is around 4 : I, and 14 : I in
reverse-both unusable ratios. With skilled attention in a well
equipped workshop no doubt the differential could be modified to
3
overcome these two difficulties, but there is usually little point when
a similar-sized engine can be used which has a straightforward gear
box. As the gearbox of the Mini and 1100 is actually incorporated in
the sump there is little scope for mating a marine gearbox. Car
engines which drive the wheels directly, e.g. the Volkswagen or
Hillman Imp engines, can be adapted by fitting a marine gearbox in
place of the original, although again there seems little point in adopt
ing this arrangement except in the case of the air-cooled VW engine.
The fact that it is air-cooled is an advantage on inland waters where
weed can be such a problem. Engines such as the BLMC transverse
engines, the Hillman Imp and the VW are ready-made units for side
paddle propulsion, where the paddle r.p.m. required (up to 100)
demands a large reduction ratio.
The straightforward front engine rear-wheel drive car engines
make the simplest conversions. Popular ones which boat owners
have used include the following:
FORD--105E, lO0E, E93A, Consul, Crossflow engines
BLMC (BMC)-Austin 7, 'A' series, e.g. A30, A40, Morris
Minor and the Morris 8, Austin 8 and 10 (1939/47), Triumph
Herald, 'B' Series, Marina, Jaguar 2.4 and 4.2.
The choice is usually dictated by the source, but if, subsequently, you
wish to buy conversion parts, then obviously the choice must be
reduced to those for which conversion parts can be obtained. Appen
dix 1 at the end of this book gives firms which can supply parts for
various engines.
The diesel field is more compact and the following engines are
most popular:
FORD--4D, 6D, 2700 series, e.g. 2701E and 2701C and the
2401E and 2402E
BLMC (BMC)-1·5, 1·8, 2·2, 2·5, 3·8 and 5·7
The BLMC 1- 5 litre diesel is about the smallest four-cylinder
automotive diesel that is used-there is a dearth of small multi
cylinder diesels.
The Perkins 4108 is a fairly old engine but still going strong in
various vans, while a relative newcomer is the Golf diesel ( l ·5 litre)
which has a reputation for quiet running. The BL l ·8 is also a smooth
runner, as is the Ford 2401/E (2·36 litre). A petrol car engine installed
in a boat can be made extremely smooth and quiet running, which
always impresses invited passengers. The engine will be smaller in size,
4
much lighter, which helps greatly when transporting the engine, and
is free of parts which just cannot be tinkered with at home in the
garage. The diesel's injector pumps and injectors can only be worked
on with special equipment.
There are industrial and automotive engines having less than four
cylinders, but these are not so numerous. A four-cylinder engine is a
good compromise between the smooth running in-line six-cylinder
and the rough but efficient single cylinder engine. An in-line six is the
smoothest running configuration without going to a far larger num
ber of cylinders. A single cylinder engine of, say, I litre capacity will be
more efficient, i.e. consume less fuel, than a four-cylinder of the same
capacity, assuming that the compression ratio is much the same.
Single-cylinder engines are naturally very rough running, and even
flexible mounts are not completely effective. There are industrial
single-cylinder engines used for driving pumps, generators and mini
tractors, but these are, of course, bare engir.es without gear
boxes.
Sources
The person who is going to fit a car engine in a boat is not likely to
buy a new bare engine and marinise it himself-the total cost would
be more or as much as buying a complete professionally marinised
engine. Car engines can be bought from all sorts of sources, and the
reader will probably have good ideas himself. However, here are a
few comments.
A variety of ex-army or government reconditioned engines are
obtainable from traders who specialise in this type of equipment.
These ex-WD units are reconditioned to a high standard and are
usually complete with all the ancillaries.
A scrapyard will yield a complete engine, including gearbox, starter,
dynamo, etc., fairly cheaply, depending on whether it is a 'runner'
or not. Before it is worth fitting an engine like this into a boat a de
tailed inspection and partial or whole reconditioning will be required.
Perhaps a more effective way of obtaining a good running engine in
these days of the MOT test is to buy a car that has failed the test because
of body corrosion. The engine, in fact, may have been reconditioned
a short time before, and therefore in very good order. The snag here
is that the car has to be towed home, the engine extracted to-
5
gether with all the 'useful' bits, and then the body towed away to a
scrapyard. In this way a good engine can be obtained cheaply.
Reconditioned engines can usually only be bought in exchange for
an old one. This suggests another method-a scrap engine from a
breaker's yard can be stripped of its accessories and exchanged for a
reconditioned block. Reconditioned engines are usually sold sans
everything, sometimes even without the cylinder head (this is called a
'short' block). Charges for this exchange service are equivalent to a
week's wage for a skilled man. Reconditioned engines can be bought
through a dealer for the car maker or firms which specialise in this
work. The Exchange and Mart is a good guide to sources of supply.
A properly reconditioned engine will give as good service and last
just as long as a new engine. All the tolerances in the bearings and all
other moving parts will have been brought up to the 'new' limits.
There are, of course, 'recons' and 'recons', and it is always best to
enquire exactly how the reconditioning is carried out. The engine
manufacturer's 'recon' is perhaps the safest.
Another possibility is to buy the engine from a relatively new but
wrecked car. Prices are naturally higher in this case, but the com
plete engine and gearbox can be obtained, so there will be no problem
or expense incurred in obtaining all the ancillaries. There are quite
a number of ancillaries on an engine-dynamo, starter, gearbox,
thermostat and housing, distributor, clutch, carburettor, oil filter,
coil, plugs and so on-and to equip a bare engine is a costly busi
ness, even when buying from a car breaker.
When converting and installing an engine, there are some opera
tions which demand work on a lathe or the use of welding gear.
Other than these jobs, all the work can be done using simple DIY
tools-and perhaps a large vice and an electric drill. When it comes
to the lathe work or welding, in most areas there are small firms or
garages who can tackle simple jobs. Wrought iron firms, car body
repairers, or small engineering firms in industrial estates are usually
very obliging. The Yellow Pages in the telephone directory provides
a good guide.
Recommended practice
Engine
Having obtained the engine, unless it is new, reconditioned, or is
known to run well it will be necessary to strip it down and measure
the wear on the moving parts. By stripping the engine yourself and
examining the bearings and bore, thus ascertaining precisely what
needs replacing or regrinding, it is possible to save money. For
instance, if the big ends are worn, regrinding costs remarkably little.
On the other hand, it may be thought easier to exchange the engine
for a reconditioned one, as mentioned in Chapter I. A professionally
reconditioned engine and a written guarantee may well be worth the
extra money.
It is best to .take off all the ancillaries--starter, distributor, etc.
as these may have to be exchanged or repaired, and in any case
removal mak�s it easier to clean the engine. Engines in cars get
incredibly filthy, and unless the engine is cleaned off in the early
stages work on the engine is for ever a dirty job. It also lessens the
chance of dirt getting inside the engine when it is stripped down.
Steam hosing is the easiest way to clean an engine, but otherwise a
detergent/emulsifying agent such as Jizer or Gunk will help, together
with a wire brush and a hose, especially a high pressure hose. Petrol
is the cheapest cleaner and leaves a good dry surface for painting.
Naturally the floor or ground under the engine during the operation
will become fouled with grease and dirt, so cleaning is best done
where dirt does not matter. All the old engine and gearbox oil and
any water in the block should be drained out first, and the old oil
filter discarded.
The motor manufacturer's workshop manual for the car and
engine will give the wear and regrind particulars. Apart from the
appropriate car distributors, the Exchange and Mart is a good
source of supply for manuals, or otherwise many motor manuals can
be obtained from local libraries on request.
The cylinder head can now be taken off, decarbonised, the valves
inspected, and the exhaust and inlet ports cleaned. Incidentally, it is
very desirable to put all the bolts, nuts, etc., in labelled jars or tins, as
there are quite a number of them in an engine, and as it may well be
several weeks before reassembly it is very easy to mislay them or
forget which goes where. A spring compressor will allow removal of
9
the split collets and hence the valves. The height of each valve spring
should be checked against the manufacturer's figures and replaced if
there is a significant difference. Before using the spring compressor,
loosen the cotters in the spring collar by sharply tapping the collar.
Keep the different valve assemblies in their correct order so that they
can be replaced in the same positions. Similarly, push the valves into
a piece of card and number them.
Any valves which are cracked, pitted or burned should be dis
carded. Check in the manual that they are not coated with another
metal, because if so they must not be reground, but the seats ground
with a used uncoated valve. A length of wood dowel with a rubber
sucker on the end is usually used for rotating the valve in its seating.
Grinding paste should be used sparingly. This can be obtained from a
car accessory shop for a few pence, and none should be allowed to
enter the engine. The wooden dowel is twirled between the palms of
the hands, first one way and then the other. Afterwards the whole
head should be washed with petrol and the valve gear assembled.
The engine can now be turned over, the sump removed and the
cylinders and main and big-end bearings examined. A light alloy
sump will suffer on a sea-going boat unless it is completely protected,
as for instance in a glassfibre boat with a totally enclosing engine
box. If an aluminium sump is allowed to come into contact with salty
bilge water it will soon become severely corroded. Other than
replacement with steel or iron, or anodising, the only answer is to
give it a coat of chromate metal primer and two coats of polyure
thane paint. An internal micrometer or a bore dial gauge is used to
measure the cylinder bores. Depending on the wear that has taken
place, new rings, pistons or a rebore may be required to bring the
tolerances back to the manufacturer's figures. On small car engines
less than 0-003 in. wear will generally require new rings only, pro
viding that the pistons are in good condition. Between 0- 003 and
0- 006 in. the first size of oversize pistons cannot be fitted, and the
standard pistons with oil control rings, such as Oilmaster or Cord,
can be fitted. Alternatively, the manufacturer's upgraded pistons can
be used. Over 0-006 in. wear means, on small car engines any
way, that a rebore is necessary, together with oversize pistons and
rings.
Before fitting the rings make sure that the grooves in the pistons
are cleaned out. Use a section of old ring as a scraper. A ring clamp
is necessary when refitting the pistons in the bores. This can be made
JO
out of a strip of tinplate wrapped around the piston, tightened by a
nut and bolt
The crankshaft journals and crankpins should be measured with
an external micrometer at several positions at right angles to each
other, and the readings compared with the figures in the manual.
Slight wear of, say, less than 0-002 in. will be remedied with new
shell bearings, but wear greater than 0-004 in. will probably require
regrinding and new undersized shell bearings, to regain the running
clearance specified by the manufacturer.
The crankshaft thrust washers may need replacing with standard
or oversize washers to regain the end clearance tolerances specified.
The end play can be measured by using a dial gauge and tapping the
shaft lightly with a wooden mallet backwards and forwards. Cam
shaft bearing wear is not usually a problem, but again the journal
diameters can be measured and compared with the manufacturer's
figures. End play should also be checked. The front end bearing
(nearest the drive chain) is the most important bearing. The camshaft
drive chain can well be renewed as accumulated wear in each link can
cause the valve timing to lag a few degrees. Make sur� that the
sprockets are in the same relative positions, as otherwise the timing
will be altered.
At this stage the components can be sent away for regrinding or
reboring as necessary. The Yellow Pages and the Exchange and
Mart are invaluable guides to suitable firms. The firm that does the
regrinding can usually also supply the appropriate bearing shells.
Assembly is a rewarding task. The manual will give torque wrench
settings to which it is vital to work. All moving parts should be given
a smear of oil before reass�mbly, and the main bearing and big-end
nuts given new lock washers or split pins as appropriate. Check that
the holes in the shell bearings are in line with the oil passages in the
crankcase and crankshaft The engine may be very tight to turn if all the
bearings are replaced. When the pistons, crankshaft, etc., have been
replaced the sump can be bolted on after being modified with a cooling
coil, if necessary, as described in the chapter on cooling. The engine
can now be turned over and the cylinder head fitted, using a new gas
ket. Indeed it is well worth replacing all the gaskets with new ones.
The correct tightening of the cylinder head bolts is a most im
portant operation. The sequence and torque wrench settings neces
sary will be found in the manual. It should be done in three stages: in
the first two, gently pull the head down by screwing the nuts in the
11
correct sequence using a socket and short bar to prevent overtighten
ing. In the final stage use a torque wrench in the correct sequence.
The rocker shaft should also be carefully tightened, since during
tightening one or more of the valves will be forced open. After about
15 hours' running the cylinder head should be retightened, to help
avoid gas or water leaks. Setting the valve clearances should be done
according to the manual. A useful guide as to which valve is fully
closed on a four-cylinder engine is the rule of 9 (or 13 for a six
cylinder engine). Turn the engine until the second valve from either
end is fully open (as far down as it will go), subtract 2 from 9 (or 13)
and valve 7 or 11 will be fully closed. The valve rocker cover should
be replaced as soon as possible to prevent dirt settling on the valve
gear.
If the starter ring is badly worn a replacement can be fitted at this
stage. Usually the ring is shrunk on and a cold chisel is required to
remove the old one, while the new one has to be heated to a light blue
colour.
Renew the linings of the clutch driven plate if much wear is
apparent, similarly the clutch release bearing. Assuming that the
clutch pressure plate is in reasonable condition and not unduly
scored do not attempt to dismantle the cover assembly, as special
equipment is required to reassemble and reset it correctly. If
necessary, obtain a reconditioned exchange cover assembly. Re
assemble the clutch to the flywheel, making sure that the driven plate
is the correct way round and that it is lined up to the crank/flywheel
spigot by using a dummy primary shaft.
Depending on the cooling system to be adopted, the thermostat
and housing and the water pump or cover plates can now be fitted,
using new gaskets. Before the rest of the ancillary equipment is fitted,
the engine can be painted, for appearance and to reduce corrosion
and dirt collection. A coat of rust-inhibiting paint such as Rustoleum
or Plus-Gas followed by a coat of polyurethane enamel suddenly
makes the engine look finished and professional, and when installed
in the boat, something to be proud of.
Ancillary equipment
Testing
Cooling
Many stationary engines are cooled by radiator and fan, for instance
air compressors at roadwork sites, and it is a perfectly sound
engineering proposition even if the engine is enclosed. A car engine,
though, does also depend on a flow of air, so installation where it is
going to work hard, in a speedboat, for example, will probably cause
overheating. Even an installation in a river cruiser using the radiator
and fan as fitted to that particular engine in a car will probably not
provide sufficient cooling unless the engine is quite open to the air.
Boxing-in is very desirable on a boat for many reasons, and there are
several ways of forestalling cooling problems if radiator and fan
cooling is adopted. The first is to adopt a larger radiator than is fitted
in the car from which the engine was taken, in particular one with a
deeper core. The second is to design, before starting the installation,
a definite path for the hot air to be directed away. The most im
portant point here is to prevent the hot air recirculating through the
radiator-the inlet and outlet of the complete air passage must be
well separated.
Another trick is to twist the fan blades so that the fan blows air
through the radiator rather than sucking. This causes cold air rather
than warm to flow over the engine. It's no good turning the blades
back to front because the fan will still blow the same way-the
blades have to be twisted. The fan can also be speeded up by fitting a
smaller diameter fan pulley wheel, or a larger diameter crankshaft
pulley.
Concerning the installation of the radiator cooling system, there is
no need to say anything here. The usual car hoses and clips are quite
adequate. The radiator will probably have to have feet bolted on in
order to reach the engine bearers. It is a good idea to make sure that
17
the drain tap on the radiator is accessible, because unless antifreeze is
added during the winter, you will want to drain it at the end of the
season. Incidentally, river water is just as good a coolant as tap
water, providing the leaves and debris are filtered out
The air ducting needs careful planning. The simplest way is to
have an extra large radiator and allow plenty of gaps and holes
around the sides and ends of the engine box, with a large grill
immediately in front of the radiator. This method causes noise prob
lems, and if you are concerned about this aspect turn to the chapter
on noise.
The best method ( l) causes the air to flow in one end of the box
and out through the other. An open fan will suck air effectively
Louvre in door
1 Through-flow ventilation
enough through the centre portion of the core of the radiator, but not
through the perimeter (2). Air will also tend to recirculate around the
sides and top of the radiator. In a car, of course, the forward motion
prevents this recirculation and adds to the fan's effect. What is
needed is a plate right across the engine box with a hole cut for the
fan (2) rather like the arrangement in a Mini. Air is then forced
through this hole and cannot recirculate back. It is difficult to achieve
a good scheme like this because the very fact of restricting the flow of
air through the fan disc causes all the minor gaps and holes in
between the radiator and the fan--especially in the bilges--to leak
far more air, thus depriving the radiator. If the engine is rubber
mounted then there must be sufficient gap between the tips of the fan
blades and the edges of the hole in the plate to allow for engine
movement, unless the radiator is mounted on the engine as in the
Mini. Gaps here are very detrimental to the fan performance. Making
a 'turbine' out of the fan like this is obviously the best way
18
theoretically, but in practice I think the following layout is a good
compromise.
What does help a great deal is to fit the radiator as close to the fan
as one dares. Blanking off the gaps between the top, bottom and sides
of the radiator and engine box will then create a similar continuous
'tunnel' effect (2). Recirculation is bound to occur through the core
of the radiator outside the fan disc area, but at least the recirculating
warm air is passing through a hot core, thus giving some cooling
effect.
Warm air circulating arnund the boat can be put to good use. It's
very nice to be able to warm one's feet, or dry wet clothes, or to be
able to retire into a warm and snug cabin on a cool day. If the warm
air is ducted into the cabin it really is no disadvantage on a warm day
(in the English climate}, because on such days you would not nor
mally sit in the cabin. In any case, a warm summer's day usually
becomes chilly in the evening and the warmed-up cabin and engine
give out a comforting warmth for several hours after the day's run is
over. Engine smells are not noticeable because of the large amount of
air being circulated. Having cruised in fan- and radiator-cooled boats
for many years I cannot really see any disadvantage from the hot-air
point of view.
The exhaust manifold and engine oil are sufficiently cooled by the
fan and therefore require no modification, with the proviso that the
engine is not going to work very hard. A normal car-type exhaust
19
system will serve quite well in a boat with a dry exhaust, i.e. one
without water injection. Even in a salty atmosphere it will last longer
than if it were fitted to a car. If the engine is rubber mounted it is
possible not to have a flexible section in the exhaust pipe, by having
the first pipe fixing some way from the engine and relying on the
flexibility of the pipe itself. Alternatively, car-type rubber exhaust
mounts can be used. Marine exhaust outlet skin fittings can be
obtained at large chandlers. It is well to lag the pipe with heat
insulation where it is within 3 or 4 in. of any woodwork or
inflammable material, but otherwise leave the pipe bare to dissipate
heat. Bends in the pipe should have a radius of at least four times the
pipe diameter, and sea-going boats with the engine placed low down
should have a swan neck just forward of the outlet, so that waves and
pitching do not cause water to flood up the pipe.
The radiator and fan method is perhaps the simplest and cheapest
way of tackling the cooling, as all the parts are standard car fittings
and there is no extra pump or manifold to fit. There are none of the
problems of possible seawater corrosion inside the engine; the water
entering the block is warm and not cold, which would be detrimental
to efficiency and long life; and perhaps most important, the cooling is
independent of the sea or river. There is no inlet and seacock to
bung-up with weed or polythene bags, a great advantage for canal
boats.
Disadvantages of the system are the possibility of insufficient
cooling, in that at cruising speed the water may boil after an hour or
so. There is a fair chance that if no great speed or power is required,
for instance in cruising boats on rivers or canals, then the cooling
will be sufficient. If the cooling is not quite adequate, another dodge
is to remove the thermostat, which does somewhat restrict the flow.
The bypass pipe can then be blocked off.
A radiator and fan system is more bulky than a direct-cooled
engine and it is more difficult to reduce the noise level. One other
possible trouble is petrol vaporisation, which causes the engine to
misfire and eventually stop. Heat radiated from the exhaust manifold
and engine block can heat the petrol in the feed pipe and carburettor
so that it vaporises. The simple remedy is to shield the pipe and
carburettor with insulation material. A packing joint between the
mechanical pump (if fitted) and the crankcase will also help.
Vaporisation is less likely to occur with an electric pump.
20
Direct cooling
Seacock
necessary. The route the cooling water should take is from seacock
to exhaust manifold, block, sump. By the time the water reaches the
block it will be warmed. Often the water is passed first through the
sump and then the manifold, but this may overcool the engine oil. By
passing warm seawater (up to 135 ° F) through the sump the oil tem
perature will be first warmed and then kept at some temperature
slightly above the seawater temperature, depending on the size of the
cooling tubes. The final sophistication comes in fitting a means of
controlling the outlet temperature of the cooling water. Running the
Bypass tap Exhaust manifold
- Exhaust
Junction must
be below WL
Jabsco pump
Junction must
be below WL
Seawater pumps
By far the best-known seawater pumps for engine cooling systems
are the Jabsco neoprene impeller pumps. The smallest Jabsco gives a
sufficient flow for most small car engines cooled directly. This is the
AL-t200 or 6640-200. Both have the same capacity of 1-56 gallons
per minute per 1000 r.p.m. with a head of 10 ft of water, the former
having plain bearings and the latter ball bearings. If the pump is to be
belt-driven the ball bearing model should be chosen. Vee-belt driving
is the easiest method, as it can use the same belt as the dynamo, but
the ball bearing model costs about twice as much as the plain bearing·
model. The pump should not be run at more than 2000 r.p.m.
continuously, which means that the reduction from crankshaft to
pump spindle should be at least 2 : 1. The camshaft revolves at half
engine speed and this is often utilised for the pump drive. The pump
can be mounted directly on the timing chain cover, or on a bracket
attached to the cover with the drive shaft protruding inside the cover
and coupled onto the end of the camshaft. Alignment has to be very
good if the drive is rigid, but several firms can supply a modified
timing chain case, together with the pump, for several popular
engines. As the horsepower absorbed by these pumps is very small
(¼ per 1000 r.p.m.) a simple drive can be made up with rubber hose and
hose clips. Belt drive demands a ball bearing pump to take the large
side loads Gournal loads) on the pump spindle. The pulley should be
at least twice the diameter of the pulley on the crankshaft, or a
shorter impeller life accepted. If the engine is to run only up to, say
2000 r.p.m. then direct drive ( 1 : 1 ratio) can be accepted.
Flow rates for direct cooling should be about 0·8 gallon per
minute per 10 HP, which would be catered for by the smallest Jabsco
24
pump (AL-t200) running at about SOO r.p.m. for 10 HP, and 2000
r.p.m. for 40 HP. Without a bypass system and thermostat the engine
will probably run cold. As these pumps are positive displacement
pumps it is very detrimental to fit a throttling device in the system,
for instance a tap. A bypass must be arranged. These pumps are self
priming, which is a very necessary feature for a direct-cooling pump,
as the pump may be situated a little above the outside water level.
Jabsco pumps must never be run dry because the neoprene impeller
will soon be damaged by burning.
To avoid drive problems an electric pump can be used. Electric
Jabsco pumps are available. The electrical circuit for the pump can
be taken through the ignition key lock, so that it is always automati
cally running when the engine is running.
Water-cooled manifold
This item may or may not be necessary. The factors are the type of
engine, the flow of air (if any) over the exhaust manifold, and the
--
Exhaust
1" galvanised nipples
Water space
Exhaust gas
6 Fabricated welded water-cooled manifold
25
speed the engine is to run at. If the engine is completely boxed in and
is to produce its full horsepower, then the manifold, if not cooled,
will become red hot. On the other hand, many successful conversions
utilising less than the full power of the engine do not have a water
cooled manifold, but rely upon a flow of air and safety precautions
such as silicate insulation material on the exhaust pipe and on
the inside of the engine box alongside the manifold. The original fan
can be retained (with the proviso about aluminium pump housings
and with a guard fitted) to create a flow of air. Alternatively, a
smaller diameter fan specially made up can be fitted, vee-belt driven
at a faster speed than the crankshaft, and situated directly in line with
the manifold.
A commercially made water-cooled manifold is a rather expensive
item but it is one which can be added fairly easily later on if, after
trials, you consider that it is necessary. If you have suitable work
shop equipment a water-cooled manifold can be fabricated (6). Firms
producing manifolds are listed in the Appendix.
Turning all or some of the cooling water after it has passed through
the engine into the exhaust pipe will further help to keep the exhaust
pipe cool. The water will then come out of the exhaust outlet in
dribbles and steam, producing the often-heard 'burbling' exhaust
note. A car-type exhaust system cannot be used because the salt
water or even hot river water would rapidly corrode the pipework.
The ideal place to inject water is in the exhaust bend immediately
after the water-cooled manifold. There is then no part of the exhaust
system uncooled. Hot seawater and exhaust gas is a very corrosive
mixture and an exhaust run made in metal does not last long (unless
exotic materials are used). The answer is to use 'rubber' diesel
exhaust hose and plastic or neoprene silencers and waterlocks.
Rubber and plastic materials of course must only be used with a 'wet'
exhaust system. In many cases simply a length of diesel exhaust hose
from the injection bend to the transom is sufficient (7)-sometimes
without a silencer-but only if the exhaust manifold is well above the
outside water level. It is important to avoid accumulated injection
water running back up the pipe when the engine is stopped. The pipe
should therefore slope down as it runs away from the engine. The
26
other danger is from waves slapping up against the exhaust outlet
when the engine is stopped and water is being forced up the pipe (or
simply the boat rolling or pitching the exhaust outlet underwater.)
This can be prevented by a swan neck bend in the pipe close to the
outlet, by a waterlock, or by an elevated mixing chamber. It is
preferable to take the exhaust through the transom rather than
through the side of the boat for this reason. The higher the exhaust
outlet on the manifold is above the outside waterline, the less the
WL
need to worry about this problem. Certainly when the exhaust outlet
is only inches higher than the outside waterline then positive means
must be provided to prevent water running back. In large deep draft
boats the engine exhaust manifold is likely to be below waterline. In
both cases either a waterlock system (7A) or an elevated water
injection silencer (7B) must be fitted.
27
The waterlock system involves a normal injection bend on the end
of the manifold so diesel exhaust hose can be used. There is a distinct
possibility of water flooding into the engine via the water cooling
circuit with a waterlock system unless the pipe to the water injection
point is arranged as shown (7 A). When the engine is stopped and the
seacock left open water can leak back past the pump impellor and
drip through the injection point. This will ultimately fill the pipe
and water lock and then flood into the cylinders through open
exhaust valves. A syphon break is essential-as shown. Even though
/
WL
Water lock
7A Waterlock system
the pipe loops well above the waterline water can syphon up and over
and into the exhaust pipe.
The water injection silencer system involves injecting the water at a
good height above the outside water level in such a way that injection
water cannot get down the pipe leading to the engine (7B). The snag
with this system apart from the need to find a place for the silencer is
the fact that the pipe from the engine is dry (and therefore gets very
hot) and needs a flexible section-a stainless steel belows. This pipe
should be insulated.
28
Dry exhausts
With a dry exhaust there are none of the problems above, but there
are problems of heat and expansion. Because of the heat, metal pipe
must be used and lagging and ventilation are needed. Care must be
taken in routing the pipe to avoid fire risks but the heat can be useful,
if care is taken, to warm a wheelhouse or an oilskin locker. For petrol
engines, piping should be of iron, steel, stainless steel, copper or
brass. For diesel engines, iron, steel or stainless steel (copper and
brass corrode rapidly with diesel fumes).
Water injected
Silencer
�
WL
= ::_-=---·:.;�-',
-------,
I
1, - Overboard or
exhaust injection
Seawater
� C
Marine gearbox
9 Usual heat exchanger circuit. Engine fitted with marine gearbox and oil coolers
32
Jabsco is thus adequate for up to around 20 HP. The next size up
(6540-200 or 2620-200) is capable of 3 gallons per minute per 1000
r.p.m. With an increased flow the temperature rise of the seawater
will be less and thus the difference in temperature between the fresh
and salt water in the heat exchanger will be greater. This enables the
size of the heat exchanger to be kept down.
The advantages of a heat exchanger system for car engine conver
sions are obvious. There are none of the engine corrosion or silting
problems of a direct system, and the engine will work at a better
temperature. The existing pump can be retained, together with the
thermostat and any aluminium housings. Exhaust manifold and
engine oil cooling problems remain, of course, and these have to be
dealt with as for the direct cooling system. To enable a running
temperature of 180° F to be maintained a pressure cap (about 7 p.s.i.)
is necessary, as in the radiator of a modern car. This reduces the
possibility of steam pockets, hot spots and undue evaporation. The
pipework, connections, etc., must of course be designed to withstand
this pressure.
A heat exchanger system is more usually fitted to diesels than
petrol engines, because a cool-running diesel is rather more liable to
soot up. There are many sources of supply for heat exchangers. Some
types for specific engines fit directly onto the thermostat housing,
which makes fitting easier, but these are generally intended for
diesels. Most types have a header tank with filling cap incorporated
in the heat exchanger. A header tank is essential in a closed system to
allow for water expansion. Also it is necessary to have larger bore
pipes for the fresh water circuit, because the car-type pump is not
capable of creating much pressure to pass the water through small
bore pipes, unlike the Jabsco pump. At least 1 in. bore pipes should
be used. The heat exchanger is usually mounted high up on the
forward end of the engine, so that pipe runs are short. The designed
water level in the header must, of course, be above any of the water
passages in the cylinder head.
A heat exchanger can be likened to an internal keel cooler with
seawater pumped into the boat and around the cooling tubes. The
simplest type consists of two concentric tubes welded or brazed (10).
The surface in contact with the cold seawater, i.e. the outside surface
of the FW tube, needs to be a little larger than the corresponding
areas as given for keel cooling pipes. Heat exchanger areas should be
about 19 sq. in. per HP for petrol engines and about 14 sq. in. for
t Seawater
Rubber hose connection
10 Simple heat exchimger made from brazed copper tube and sheet
�WMO, I
From header tank To pump and block
-
Seawater
Seawater overboard
or into exhaust
FW pump
Oil cooler
that its size can be kept down, while the block is fed with water which
has been preheated by the exhaust manifold. This ensures the highest
possible cylinder temperature for this circuit The 5 p.s.i. relief valve
makes the water flow round and round the block when the thermostat
(original type) is closed. A filling connection is necessary in the
lowest part of the circuit, because water will not flow through a
37
stationary Jabsco pump, unlike a centrifugal pump. Subsequent top
ping-up is done through the heat exchanger cap.
A larger heat exchanger and oil cooler are necessary with an all
fresh water system, but the benefits are more even temperatures
throughout the engine, good combustion at the designed tempera
tures and a longer oil and engine life. However, these advantages,
which are relatively small in comparison to the simpler heat ex
changer method (8), are very often not worthwhile, as the attraction
of the simpler method is that the original centrifugal pump can be
used.
Oil coolers
Keel coolers
Orig. thermostat
Blanking plate in
lieu of orig. pump
Jabsco pump
Keel cooler
14 Keel cooler circuit
Tank Cooling
On a metal hull one can use the bottom plating as the heat exchanger
surface. A tank is welded in place through which the engine cooling
water is passed; the circuit is similar to that for keel cooling.
41
To get the best heat exchange for the smallest tank the water needs
to be encouraged to flow over the bottom surface. The tank should be
baffled (14A) and shallow. Aluminium is a good conductor of heat
and it keeps its surface reasonably clean and so the surface area
required need not be as much as on a steel boat, but even so a tank is
not so efficient as keel cooling pipes. So a figure of 30 sq. ins. per HP
(the figure of HP being taken as the engine's maximum rating)
should be considered a minimum for temperate salt waters. With a
steel tank on inland waters allowance has to be made for rust
affecting the transfer of heat, so 40 sq. ins. per HP is not
unreasonable. Always allow as large a tank as practicable. A box keel
makes a good cooling tank, being more efficient than a rectangular
tank.
Engine enclosures
Pipe size
It is important to choose an adequate internal pipe diameter for the
water circuit, especially if long lengths of pipe are involved with
many bends and connections for example as with a keel cooling
system. If the pipe bore is too small, the resistance to the flow causes
the pump to work at a high pressure (or head of water) which in turn,
with Jabsco pumps, means that the flow is less. Not only this but the
life of the impeller will be much reduced. For instance the ½ inch
Jabsco, suitable for the BL 1·5 litre heat exchanger cooled diesel,
gives 8·4 gallons per minute at 1,500 r.p.m. against a 10 feet head of
water. This reduces to 7·7 g.p.m. against 20 feet and 7· 1 against 30
feet. For this engine one wants about 6 g.p.m. From the table below,
¾ inch pipe is just about adequate leading to a velocity of just over 4
ft/sec within the pipe, a level at which copper pipe will have a long
life. Faster velocities can erode copper pipe very quickly. Aluminium
brass pipe can withstand 8 ft/sec, copper nickei pipe 15 ft/sec.
Faster velocities imply higher pressures and smaller bore piping.
If 4 ft/sec is adhered to, the pipe size can be chosen simply from the
43
table below knowing the flow rate required. If a long piping system is
envisaged such as in keel cooling, then a check should be made on the
head of water (or pressure) that the pump will have to work against.
w
ic
I-
�
LL w
Co.
ea:
<Cu..
WQ
:c ti:i
t::w 6
zu..
�8
cn-
ea:
..JW
z o.. 3
0
t
ii: 2
LI..
2 3 4 6 8 10 20 30 40 60 80 100
Flow imperial G.P.M.
14B Friction losses in pipes
44
To do this, add up the total length of pipe that the water must pass
through on its circulation and then add the equivalent length of pipe
due to bends and restrictions according to the table below. From the
figures of friction loss per I00 feet of pipe (14B) one can find the head
against which the pump must work, a figure to use with the pump
manufacturers catalogue. As an example suppose a BL I·5 diesel is
keel cooled and ¾ inch pipe chosen from engine to cooler. If the keel
coolers are of 1 inch pipe arranged in parallel (say a bank of 3) the
flow inside will be very low and the friction loss small enough to be
ignored. Suppose the ¾ inch pipe length amounts to 20 feet and there
are ten bends (each worth 25 diameters = 1½ feet) ten sudden
enlargements or contractions (each worth 20 diameters= 1¼ feet).
The total equivalent length of pipe is therefore 20 + 15 + 12Y2= 47Y2
feet. So from (14B) at 4Y2 ft/ sec and 6 g.p.m. the head against which
the pump must work is about 11 feet. (In the general case add to this
the height to which the water is pumped if the water is discharged at a
higher level than sea level; but in this case, of course, being closed
circuit, there is no additional head). Then one can choose a pump
from the makers' catalogue that will achieve this flow against this
head, and also choose the required pump r.p.m. Low speeds (below
2,000 r.p.m.) and low heads (below 10 feet of water) will prolong the
impeller life.
A small change in pipe bore has a large effect on the flows and
heads involved. In the above example ½ inch bore piping would lead
to a very high pressure. Always be generous when choosing pipe
sizes.
Gearbox
Constant mesh
driving gears
when the collar is slid into the first gear position the spur wheel
engages with the small pinion on the layshaft (no synchromesh).
You can see that in all these forward gears the output shaft will
rotate in the same direction as the input shaft. Reverse is obtained by
taking the drive from the layshaft to the main shaft via a small idler
gear, so that the main shaft then rotates in the opposite direction. The
short reverse shaft has two small spur gears mounted on it which,
when slid to the left, engage the small pinion on the layshaft and the
large spur wheel on the main shaft ( 15). The shift in all gears is
achieved by a fork sliding along the selector rods. There are thus
three forks and three selector rods. The synchromesh ring is shaped
like part of a cone and is pressed up against an inner cone on the
appropriate gear wheel in a wedging action by the selector collar.
50
The friction created speeds up the input side until the speeds are
synchronised and then the selector collar splines can slide over and
engage with the toothed wheel.
When stripping down a gearbox generally no special tools are
required. You may be dismayed to hear bearing needles and selector
rod balls fall to the bottom of the gear case, but don't despair-there
are ways of putting them back. It always amazes me how clean and
pristine the inside of a gearbox appears after it has been in the
scrapyard mud for a few years. Gearboxes are fairly rain-tight unless
someone has taken out the gear lever and allowed rainwater to trickle
in. Prices from a scrapyard depend mainly on whether the gearcase is
made of aluminium alloy or not. Most BLMC boxes are of alumin
ium, but Fords are usually cast iron, and only command a small
price. Aluminium boxes may be more costly. It is rare to find bad
gear damage. The first and reverse gears may be a little chipped, the
aft end oil seal may need renewing and the selector rod ball springs
may be broken, but these are minor details.
Having cleaned the outside and drained out the oil, the top can be
taken off and dismantling begun. The selector rods can be tapped out
and the forks lifted out. Make a note of which is which. Watch out
for the selector rod balls and springs-these usually fall out. The
main shaft will probably tap out with a wooden mallet, while the
layshaft will have to be pushed out from one end with a smaller-sized
rod tapped through. The layshaft and gear cluster will then drop to
the bottom of the box, and clear the way for the main shaft to pass
out through the output end, or the top. It is well to watch for thrust
washers on the ends of the layshaft and note their number and
position before they fall out of place. The reverse shaft may also have
to be tapped out. In some boxes it has to be extracted one way only
and a threaded hole is provided in which you can fit a bolt. If a large
nut or washers are fitted under the bolt head, the shaft can be
extracted by screwing the bolt home.
Naturally it pays to keep the parts free from grit and dirt. Upon
reassembly the difficulty is in fitting the needle rollers in place. The
layshaft usually has free rather than caged needles at each end. To
make things more difficult you have to fit the main shaft in position
before the layshaft and gear cluster is pushed home. To overcome the
needle roller problem slide inside the layshaft and gear cluster a
wooden dowel of the same diameter as the layshaft rod and pack in
the needles. When the time comes to push in the layshaft rod it will
51
push out the wooden dowel, leaving the rollers in place. Sometimes
the main/primary shaft spigot bearing is composed of free roller
bearings. This is a case for thick grease and patience. Caged roller
bearings, of course, present no problem.
Methods of conversion
Converting means essentially that the reverse gear ratio is decreased
from 4 or 5 : 1 to something more in keeping with a normal ahead
ratio of 1t or 2 : 1. Basically there are three ways of doing this. First,
the actual reverse gears can be changed to give a better ratio; second,
the layshaft can be made to revolve faster so that the reverse gears
have a faster 'input'; and third, a 'new' reverse can be created by
making the layshaft revolve in the opposite direction.
Ahead= 1st
or 2nd
Astern= reverse
Layshaft
Astern = reverse
Chain drives
The next most popular method of conversion is more trouble to do
but, if properly done, makes a better job--as with most things in life.
There are several combinations around chain drives. The one the
professionals use is as follows. Sprockets are fitted in lieu of the
driving gears, thus making the layshaft turn in the opposite direction.
Then all gears other than fourth and reverse will drive astern. If the
ratio of the chain sprockets is made the same as the original drive
55
gears all the other gear ratios will be the same as originally. In
choosing the sprocket diameters there is scope for adjustment of the
overall ratios, so that reverse can be made the same as ahead, i.e.
I: I. The obvious 'gear' for reverse is third, so that the gear lever
motion is directly fore-and-aft, forward to give astern and aft for
ahead ( 19). If confidence can be had in the chain drive for full power
Ahead (direct) Astern
Input
-
Astern
Ahead
Layshaft
instance, a chain can be put over the third or second gears. The result
of putting a chain around the third gears is much the same as putting
it around the drive gears. It may be that there is not enough room in
the gearcase to fit around the drive gears. This arrangement has been
used in an A40 box, but instead of direct (fourth) being used as
ahead, third gear through the chain was used. In fact, the original
third gear ratio was retained, so that ahead the ratio was about 1-4 : I
and astern I : 1. This gave considerably more 'bite' in astern, but the
engine idling speed had to be kept up a trifle so that when engaging
astern the engine did not stall.
If a large reduction ratio ahead and astern is required, as in a
large, heavy displacement boat where the full horsepower of the
engine is required, then a chain over the third gears offers possibi
lities. Ahead could be second gear 2½: l,.and astern third gear with
the ratio made identical to ahead by making the sprocket ratio the
same as the ratio between the second gears (20). Two forks can be
joined together so that the gear lever has a simple fore-and-aft move-
57
ment. It is, however, back to front, i.e. to engage ahead the gear lever
has to be moved aft. Remote control, however, can easily reverse this
movement so that forward is 'ahead'.
Ahead Astern
Other methods
Some gearboxes have the gears splined or doweled on to the layshaft
rather than in a fixed cluster. The Bedford crash box and WD trucks
(I 934-51) are like this and enable the gears to be shifted around
more easily. For instance, the layshaft can be made to rotate in the
opposite direction by the introduction of an idler gear between the
driving gears on the main shaft and layshaft, after substituting for the
layshaft drive gear a smaller one which does not touch its mate. Then
third gear gives astern and fourth (direct) ahead. Apparently (I have
not seen this) in the Bedford crash box the old reverse gear turned
end for end can be used as an idler.
So far all the methods outlined have created a reverse out of gears
other than the original reverse. Another method of conversion is to
tackle the actual reverse ratio in the reverse gears. It is not feasible to
reduce the diameter of the final reverse wheel (the large one on the
main shaft) nor, in consequence, its mate on the reverse shaft. How
ever, the other two gears, the pinion on the layshaft and the gear on
the reverse shaft, which is its mate, could conceivably be swapped
over. Then instead of a reduction in speed from layshaft to reverse
shaft there would be an increase, and in consequence the overall ratio
of reverse would be reduced. Reverse would then be about 2½ : 1 and
of course all the ahead ratios would still be intact. Swapping gears
like this is quite a skilled job, and I have, in fact, never seen this type
of conversion carried out.
Three-speed boxes can be converted by the appropriate methods
as outlined above. In addition, if 1 : 1 ahead and astern is required,
the following conversion can be carried out. The driving gears are
replaced by a pair of first spur gears from another box, the larger
wheel being fitted on the primary shaft. This rotates the layshaft
much faster than previously, and the unaltered reverse gears give an
overall ratio close to 1:1. Third gear (direct) is used as ahead. One
gearbox which is suitable for this type of conversion is the Ford
IOOE. It is obviously a skilled job turning down the upper driving
gear and fitting in place the large first wheel. If this method is
contemplated and you have the necessary equipment, then you will
59
obviously have the engineering skill to carry it out. The description
of the lathe work, etc.,. necessary for this and the chain drive methods
is beyond the scope of this book.
Choice of method
This depends to a great extent on the reduction ratio required. This in
turn depends on the propeller size that can be accommodated, and
the speed of the boat which it is intended to drive. The table in the
chapter on propellers gives a guide. The table below sums up the
result of each type of conversion detailed in this chapter.
Chain over 1:1 Fourth Yes 1:1 Third Yes Fore-aft First, second,
drive or (aft = ahead) reverse
third gears
Chain over l½ :1 Third Yes I½:1 Second Yes Fore-aft Fourth, first,
second (aft = astern) reverse
gears
Chain over 2½: 1 Second Yes 2½:1 Third Yes Fore-aft Fourth, first,
third (aft = ahead) reverse
gears
Chain selection
A suitable chain size can be selected from (22). The space inside a
small car gearbox for a chain drive is usually very limited. The width
of the gears which are to be replaced by a chain drive cannot easily
be exceeded, and the sprockets usually cannot be much greater in
diameter than the original gear wheels because of the proximity of
the gear case. Consequently small-pitch Duplex or Triplex chains are
usually required. To fit sprockets of less than 17 teeth is not recom
mended for high speeds over, say, 2000 r.p.m. for long chain life.
Also the drive, due to impulses from the engine and propeller, is by
no means smooth and a selection factor as in (22) has to be used. The
selection table is a general guide only, but basically caters for a chain
life of 15,000 hours, whereas if the chain is only intended for reverse
then it is permissible to take a lower selection factor. However, let us
take an example 'straight from the book'. Suppose the second gears
are replaced by a chain drive. The ratio needs to be more or less the
same as third, therefore the layshaft gear will need to be larger and
the main shaft gear possibly smaller. There may not be sufficient
room to have a layshaft sprocket of more than 2½ in. diameter, so
with 17 teeth this means that f in. chain is the largest size possible. A
simple chain would therefore only transmit 4½ HP at 2000 r.p.m. or
7 HP at 5000 r.p.m. The figures for Duplex chain would be 9 and 12
HP and for Triplex 11 and 18 HP. At full throttle even the smallest
61
car engine can exceed these figures. Admittedly, the layshaft rotates
at a lower speed than the engine because the driving gears give a
reduction, and the long life of 15,000 hours is not required, but there
is the selection factor of 2-0 which will halve the above figures. Also,
in the smaller boxes it is a tight squeeze to get in Duplex chain, let
alone Triplex.
30
Conversion
Clutch
Some people who have used a car gearbox in a boat report that the
synchromesh is powerful enough to engage gear without using the
clutch, and in fact never use it. There must be a considerable
'crunch', I think, when engaging gear like this, because the synchro
mesh has to rotate the propsh�ft up to the speed of the engine at idle,
and this represents quite a considerable torque. Personally, I have
never had or handled a gearbox where this was possible. However,
this can be found out on trials.
The choices open to you for clutch operation are foot pedal, hand
lever, and combined gear lever and clutch. Older types of engines
have the clutch pedal mounted directly on the bell housing clutch
lever, while later engines usually have a hydraulic system. A foot
pedal protruding above the floorboards is the simplest possible
arrangement, but unless the steering position is closely adjacent the
wheel has to be left for a few seconds while the helmsman nips
around to the back of the engine and changes gear. Of course another
63
crew member can act as 'engine-room hand' and operate throttle,
clutch and gear lever on instructions from the helmsman. This is a
rather clumsy way of handling a boat, and it is far better to have all
the controls grouped around the helmsman. A foot pedal is not a
good idea if the helmsman is standing up at the helm. It's difficult
standing on one leg holding on to the steering wheel with one hand
and the gear lever with the other, when the boat is rolling heavily.
Sitting down on a seat with a back to it you feel 'in control' and a foot
Extended clutch
''"'/
23 One handed clutch and gear lever operation
clutch pedal is then quite acceptable. This is where the hydraulic type
of clutch linkage is handy, as the clutch pedal can then be sited any
where you want. The system as taken straight out of a car is perfectly
suitable.
It is possible to make gear changing a one-handed operation. A
Bowden cable is run from the clutch lever to a long hand lever
mounted on the gear lever (23). A bicycle brake lever is sometimes
used. Considerable forces are involved in pressing the clutch plates
apart, and the rig needs to be quite robust. Apart from this, a
64
considerable leverage is required to operate a clutch by hand. Rather
than give any figures on this, it is easy to see from moving the clutch
lever by hand just how much leverage is necessary, and arrange it
accordingly.
A more cunning method is to arrange a linkage from the gear lever
itself so that when it is pressed sideways the clutch is let out (24).
With a long gear lever very fine control can be obtained. With
practice this arrangement works very well.
Quite often it is remarked that the presence of a clutch as well as a
gear lever is rather a nuisance on board a boat. Personally, I find
precisely the contrary, and being able to slip the clutch to inch the
boat forward or take a little way off her is quite an advantage. A
marine gearbox is either in or out of gear, there is no halfway mark,
and unless the engine idle revs are low the boat surges backwards or
forwards too fast for comfort. This perhaps does not matter on the
sea, but inland, where many 'coming alongsides' have to be made, I
much prefer a clutch.
65
Propeller thrust
Can the car gearbox take it? Strictly speaking, the answeris 'No', but
in practice many car engine conversions can and do. The propeller
thrust which pushes the boat along must be taken off the propeller
shaft by a suitable bearing, as the magnitude of the thrust is not
negligible (25).
The two large ball bearings in the gearcase are designed to take the
large journal (lateral) loads imposed by the gears when the engine is
running at full throttle. To impose the additional propeller thrust,
2000
Thrust lbs = HP X prop efficiency % X 3.25
Water inflow knots
1500
1000
£
500
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Speed knots
25 Propeller thrust guide
which could be as much as the gear load, is asking too much and the
bearing will fail in a short time. The other question is the location of
the bearing in the housing. Not being designed to take a large axial
load, the bearing may only be located on one side by a circlip. Or it
may not be located inside at all, in which case the bearing would
creep down its housing until the load was actually being taken on the
spigot bearing between the main and primary shafts. When the bear
ing is just pressed into the housing like this the end float is usually
taken up in a thrust washer or ball inside the spigot bearing. This will
certainly come to grief if the full propeller load is applied.
Having said all this, I will now look at it from the other point of
view. The first thing to do is to look inside the box at the after
66
bearing and imagine the mainshaft from the coupling forward being
pushed against heavily (26). It will probably be that the half coupling
transfers load through the speedometer worm and a sleeve directly
on to the inner race of the bearing. The outer race may have a lip
which would press against the casing-all well and good. Astern
thrust will probably be resisted by the first/second gear splined hub,
which presses up against the inner race. The outer race may have a
circlip to prevent the bearing being pushed out aft. Obviously, differ
ent boxes have different arrangements, and it is only by careful
inspection that the result of applying axial thrust becomes known.
Oil seal
Half coupling
For instance, the Hillman Minx box (circa 1960) has an after bearing
which is sandwiched in position in the gearcase by the light alloy end
piece. It may be quite simple to retain the bearing firmly by a bolted
on cover plate, for example.
Another factor which decides whether the after ball bearing can
take the propeller thrust is which gear the box will be run in for
ahead. Fourth gear (direct) will impose no journal bearing loads on
the after bearing. Third will only impose a little, because the third
gears are nearer to the forward end than the aft end. Second gear will
be worse, and first the worst of all, because the first gears are bang up
against the after ball bearing, which will take the entire journal load.
The third factor is the dynamic capacity of the actual bearing. Ball
bearings are capable of taking axial and journal loads, the sum of
67
which must not exceed a certain value depending on the size and type
of the bearing. The table below gives the approximate maximum
permissible load of standard rigid single row ball bearings and the
RHP designation. Incidentally, bearings of the same size made by
different manufacturers are interchangeable.
Bore in. 1.
4 1.14 l½
lJ 440 440 710 710 750 1120 lb
MJ 550 600 730 1050 1200 1550 lb
These figures are for steady conditions, a speed of 1000 r.p.m. and
a life of 7500 hours. For higher speeds the permissible load should
be factored down, for example, at 4000 r.p.m. only 0-63 of the above
load figures should be taken. Under gearbox conditions the bearing
will not be operating under a steady load and the working loads
above should be halved. On the other hand, a life of 7500 hours
could be considered excessive in a pleasure boat, and this last factor
ignored.
SCr-what conclusion can we reach? Take a 5-6 knot 18-22 ft
cruiser where the engine is only going to be asked to deliver up to 8
HP at 2000 r.p.m. The propeller thrust would be about 220 lb, so the
total would be 3 20 lb including the journal load, which is within the
capacity of small car gearbox bearings, which are around 1 in. bore.
So, providing the bearing is located securely it would be in order to
allow it to take the propeller thrust in this case.
At the other end of the scale, imagine a heavy displacement sea
going craft which needed 40 HP to do 8 knots. The propeller thrust
would be about 800 lb, and if the box were running in second gear
the gear load would bring the total bearing load to about 1300 lb.
For continuous running this is not acceptable. A light fast runabout
making use of the full horsepower of the engine would not create
such a large propeller thrust load, because the speed would be so
much higher. This is an odd fact, but horsepower for horsepower the
thrust drops as the speed increases. A runabout would probably use
fourth (direct) gear, so there would be no journal load.
Incidentally, different propellers, driven through different reduc
tion ratios but absorbing the same horsepower, will give much the
same boat speeds and thrust. This is why propeller size has been
omitted in the above examples, although a larger reduction ratio and
a larger propeller will give slightly greater efficiency and therefore
68
thrust, and therefore speed, at the same horsepower. The difference is
only in the order of up to 15%.
lf it is decided that the gearbox cannot take the thrust a separate
thrust box on the propeller shaft must be resorted to. There are
advantages to be had in this arrangement as discussed in the chapter
on drives. Alternatively, a thrust bearing can be mounted on the end
of the gearbox, but this, I think, is very rarely done, a separate thrust
bearing being no more difficult
Oil seal
The oil seal fitted at the back end of the box sometimes gives trouble
when the box is operating in a boat. This occurs when the propeller
thrust is taken by the end bearing in the box, because of the greater
lateral wobbling that takes place. If a separate thrust bearing is fitted
so that the gearbox is free from thrust and only delivers a torque,
then the oil seal will be working in exactly the same conditions as in a
car. The worst situation occurs when the propeller thrust is taken at
an angle through an articulated joint, for instance when the prop
shaft and engine are not in line and the thrust and drive are taken
through a car-type universal joint Obviously the oil seal will be
asked to take up far greater deflection in the running of the shaft, and
will wear out more quickly. Nevertheless, many gearboxes and drives
are fitted like this and appear to work quite well. It is probably a
matter of a reduced oil seal life from, say, 3000 hours to 1000 in
relation to the running time of an engine in a pleasure boat of, say,
100 hours a year.
CHAPTER FIVE
Thrust
�
I
:
I
'I
I
I
I
I
- - - - - - - - - _J
Universal joints
27 Using car-type components for a flexible drive
rubber after bearing and the greaser and gland connected by a rubber
tube fitted with hose clips (28). Alignment must still be fairly good.
The disadvantage of this method is that the engine is not fully free to
move, and a flexible stern tube is essential. The car-type Hardy
Spicer articulated joint can be used instead of a flexible coupling with
this arrangement for low horsepower where the engine is not going to
work very hard, as these joints are capable of taking a small axial
load providing the angle of articulation is small.
As car engines are always flexibly mounted, the mounts, the arti
culated drive and the flexible exhaust, petrol pipe, water hoses, etc.,
can all be used complete, with advantage, in a boat. So I will consider
this arrangement first.
Car engines usually have two rubber mounts at the forward end
inclined at an angle, and one or two under the gearbox. Welded steel
angle bar can be made up to span the engine bearers to suit the
Rubber mounted engine
Mounts capable of taking prop thrust
Rubber
�
Flex. coupling , /---
'
'
Two-way cock
If a stern tube and propeller shaft are already in place, then the
next step is to connect the drive to the gearbox. However, if a stern
tube is not fitted, then the following will not go amiss. A stern tube is
basically a tube with bearings and a flange at each end, with a greaser
and packing seal at the inboard end. The bearings are either white
metal, lubricated by water repellent grease, or sometimes the out
board bearing is rubber and water lubricated. The tube is about I½
in. diameter for a I in. shaft, so a long auger has to be used to drill a
hole, in a wooden boat. A pilot hole should first be carefully lined up
and drilled. With an articulated drive accuracy in the vertical plane is
not, of course, essential.
73
Thrust bearings
In Chapter Four the magnitude of the propeller thrust is discussed,
and it is shown that standard deep groove journal ball bearings of the
bore sizes to fit shafts of I-I½ in. are capable of taking the propeller
thrust, except in the case where the full horsepower of the engine is to
be used. These bearings can be obtained fitted in a pillow or plummer
.,
"O
� 800
·x l---+--..::::,,..�-----;-;-+---+----1
.,
c.
::,
<ii
'5 600 1----+--_=:::,,,--..:::,----+-=-,----+----l
.,"
�
200 .____...____......___.....___-L-___,
1000 2000 3000
RPM of shaft
1000 ---�---�---...._____,
1000 2000 3000
RPM of shaft
32 Load capacity of double tapered roller bearings set in a plummer
block
75
bearers. The ball bearing types are usually self-aligning or able to
accomodate small errors in line-up, so fitting these bearings is not
difficult After bolting down the shaft should turn freely. The
distance between the thrust bearing and the gearbox coupling can be
adjusted to suit the Hardy Spicer carden shaft The free unsupported
length of propeller shaft should not be more than the figures on
page 82. It is well to keep the thrust bearing well away from the stern
tube, so that it is higher out of the bilges and thus less likely to be in
contact with bilge water. The half coupling connections to the after
end of the Hardy Spicer shaft should be close to the thrust bearing to
avoid overhang and whip.
Max. Lateral
Max. Permanent Angle Displacement Between
Type of Drive Between the Two Shafts the Two Shafts
Solid mounting
Strong .steel feet must be bolted to the engine to suit the height of the
engine bearers, remembering that the gearbox output shaft must be in
line with the propeller shaft (33). For many car engines you can buy
cast feet which bolt on to the sides of the engine block. This does not
apply to the gearbox feet because there are only one or two firms who
marinise car gearboxes. However, there is nothing difficult about
making up feet from heavy steel angle bar, about 3 x 3 in., or fin.
thick flat bar. The final lining up of the engine has to be done with
large metal shims between the feet and the engine bearers. To test for
alignment, assuming the gearbox has a flange coupling and the
77
Engine solidly bolted to t>earers
Half couplings
,-�I
/
I
I I
I
I
I
I
- ___ J
Stern tube with plain bearings
33 Solid mounting and drive
Other drives
The straightforward prop shaft is not the only way of connecting the
engine to the propeller. Advantages can be gained by using other
methods, such as the outdrive or Z drive. The cost of a new Z drive is
many times greater than the cost of converting a car engine, so unless
you are lucky and obtain a second hand unit, this method will
probably not appeal. Nevertheless, an outdrive will place the engine
right aft out of the way, avoid gearbox problems, and allow easy
removal of weed and debris from the propeller.
The outdrive concept fits in well with fast planing boats (for which
they are primarily designed) because, on such a boat, the weight
needs to be aft and the hull has to have a broad flat transom for
efficient planing which suits an outdrive installation. The leg of an
outdrive is designed to kick up if an underwater obstruction is hit.
The leg can also be tilted up to beach the boat. But outdrives are also
seen on slower motor boats and on catamarans. Long legs are
available nowadays especially for catamarans, the engine sitting on
the centreline in a pod that just kisses the water. Another advantage
78
is that close quarters manoeuvring is so much easier than with a
conventional propeller and rudder. The stern can be pushed sideways
in 'astern' just as positively as in 'ahead'.
Disadvantages of the outdrives are: I) vague steering at slow ahead
speeds. 2) rather vulnerable and prone to being bashed by the dinghy.
3) corrosion can be a big problem when it comes to dismantling parts
of the leg. 4) reduction ratios are generally no more than l ·6: l or 2: I
which means inefficient propulsion for displacement boats as the
propeller diameter is restricted.
The method of taking the drive from the engine flywheel normally
involves a flanged stub shaft, which is bolted on with the flywheel
bolts. The outdrive usually has two universal joints and a splined
shaft on to which the stub shaft slides. Outdrive manufacturers can
usually supply the parts for fitting their outdrives to many popular
car engine conversions. The outdrive unit incorporates forward
neutral-reverse gears in the bevel gear train at the top end of the unit.
Jet units are simpler and less expensive. The propulsive efficiency
suffers over a normal propeller for slower boat speeds, but is quite
good at speeds over 20 knots. In fact it is not until 35 knots or so is
reached before a jet powered boat is likely to have the same speed as a
propeller driven boat powered by the same engine. Consequently a
jet boat needs ample power-in excess of 100 hp per ton-otherwise
a disappointing performance is likely. Again the engine is right aft, and
there is the advantage of safety to swimmers and skiers as all rotating
parts are covered. A bucket and flap system over thejet orifice provides
steering and astern power, so again no gearbox is required. The drive
to the impeller shaft can be achieved with a short car-type Hardy
Spicer shaft, connected direct to the flywheel. There would be some
advantage to be gained by retaining the clutch, or both the clutch and
gearbox, because starting and idling could then be achieved without
the impeller being driven around. The clutch could be retained to
gether with the bell housing holding the clutch fork. The primary
shaft of the gearbox could be used to take the drive from the driven
plate, together with the forward end ball bearing and face of the
gearcase. The rest of the gearcase could be cut away, leaving a very
neat stub end to the bell housing. Direct 'solid' drive would not be
recommended by the jet manufacturers.
A vee drive will also place the engine right aft It is simply a small
79
box incorporating gears or a chain drive to enable the drive to double
back on itself and pass underneath the engine. It is not now a very
popular method of transmission and the gear vee drive is a costly
little item.
Variable pitch propellers offer many advantages. For a car engine
drive it dispenses with the need for a gearbox and clutch, although
the clutch would be a desirable feature at times, so that the engine
could run without the propeller turning. On a variable pitch propeller
the blades can be turned by mechanical linkages from inside the boat
so that the thrust can be varied to ahead, astern or neutral (zero
pitch) with the shaft always revolving in the same direction.
A propeller that can be feathered (i.e. the blades are set fore and
aft) offers little resistance to water flow when the shaft is stopped,
and consequently a V.P. propeller is attractive for auxiliary sailing
yachts. However one disadvantage is that obtaining a precise
'neutral', i.e. no thrust, is often difficult because of slack in the
control system; another is cost.
The simplest and cheapest unit is by Watermota, and incorporates
a thrust bearing and flange coupling. An articulated drive (car-type
Hardy Spicer) could easily be fitted from this coupling to the gearbox
flange, the engine flywheel or even to the primary shaft of the gear
box, after cutting off all the gearcase except the forward face attached
to the bell housing.
A type of drive which has been on the sidelines for several years,
as far as boats are concerned, is the hydraulic (or hydrostatic) drive.
The engine drives a hydraulic pump which pumps oil at high pres
sure through flexible hoses to a hydraulic motor fitted directly on the
prop shaft Reverse and neutral are easily achieved hydraulically,
thus dispensing with the clutch and gearbox. This drive, even using
standard industrial pumps and motors, is expensive, but it may be
attractive when one engine can be used to drive two propellers-on a
catamaran for example. However, any hydraulic drive is composed
of much more than merely a pump(s) and a motor(s). The oil needs to
be cooled, the suction to the pump must be pressurised to avoid
cavitation, and a relief valve and header tank have to be
incorporated. Very importantly the whole system including the
engine and propeller must be design-matched by a hydraulic
engineer, otherwise the motors and pumps may be operating way-off
80
their design point and be very inefficient. At very best, motor and
pump efficiencies are no more than 90% so one is faced with a system
81 % efficient (0.9 x 0.9) before pipe losses etc. are included. A marine
gearbox in contrast is 90%-95% efficient. One chooses hydraulic
drive only where a conventional drive is difficult to engineer, but it
does give the added advantage of enabling the engine to be fitted in
unusual places, for instance, across the transom.
Propeller shafts
Commonly used shaft materials include manganese bronze, stainless
steel and monel, in increasing order of cost. Both manganese bronze
and stainless steel need cathodic protection. There are many grades
of stainless steel-Type 316 is the 'least' grade one should use for a
shaft in seawater. Grades with a higher alloy content give a longer
life. In fresh water Type 304 is satisfactory or even plain carbon steel
but manganese bronze is the better alternative. Ideally shafts should
l?e double-ended so that when they become worn they can be turned
end for end.
The maximum unsupported length of shaft between bearings
expressed as a multiple of the shaft diameter is as follows:
Not recommended
A-section
4000
:::,
a.
I
] 3000
0
�
a..
a: B-section
V
2000
7
1000 J 10 20
/ 30
C-section
40 50
Design HP required
A-section belt
(l" top width)
.; 3
a.
2
(smallest recommended)
4
5" (smallest recommended)
2
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Belt speed ft/min.
C-section belt
16
(·a'' top width)
\
0 0,10
,, 'b,�
,-i
12
-.;
.Q
0.
::c
Electric pump
Filter and sediment bowl
Coarse filter
-- -- - _____ .,,.,
35 Tank, petrol pump and feed system involving a large tank
89
means of a rubber tube secured by hose clips (35). With the filler
extended up to the deck any overflow will run over the deck and
overboard, not down into the bilges. It is important to earth the deck
screw fitting to the tank, and the tank to the engine, to reduce the
possibility of sparking. Nevertheless, when filling from a petrol pump
always remember to bring the nozzle of the filler hose into contact
with the deck fitting before allowing petrol to flow. An even better
filler arrangement is to carry the filler hose right down almost to the
bottom of the tank. This minimises the generation of petrol vapour
due to splashing, and it also minimises the risk of a static charge
building up. A vent pipe must be arranged from the top of the tank to
a point in the side of the boat to allow air to escape when filling. Also,
of course, air must be able to enter the tank as fuel is used by the
engine, to prevent the creation of a vacuum. Small tanks of, say, less
than 10 gallons in capacity are served sufficiently by a small hole in
the filler cap, unless a separate vent pipe is provided. The vent pipe,
which should be fitted in any case on tanks of over 10 gallons, should
have copper gauze fitted over the outlet in the boat's side.
The petrol pipe should be of copper; 3/16 in. o.d. is usually quite ade
quate, and it should be strapped in place every 2 ft or so. With a
pump feed it is better to draw the petrol through the top of the tank
by means of a pipe running to the bottom of the tank. With a gravity
feed system, of course, the petrol must be drawn through the bottom
of the tank. Connections in the copper petrol pipe must not be made
by soft soldering; such a joint is very liable to crack under vibration,
and in the event of a fire will quickly melt and feed petrol to the fire.
Connections should be made by brazing or, more conveniently, by
either a cone union or an olive union. The connection to the carburet
tor or mechanical pump should be by means of a flexible hose to
prevent engine vibration cracking the copper pipe. Copper is rather
susceptible to this. Car-type hose, especially the armoured variety, is
perfectly suitable, but it is desirable to wrap it in fire resistant
material. Pipe clips should be used at the connections. In a gravity
feed system a petrol cock or tap should be directly beneath the tank
91
or, if this is inaccessible, as close to the tank as possible. In a pump
feed the tap can be fitted in any accessible place, bearing in mind that
in the event of a carburettor fire this will be the first thing you will
want to get to.
Dirt and water will inevitably enter the fuel tank in a boat. The
mechanical pump, the carburettor and the tank will probably already
have wire mesh filters, but it is a very good thing to have an in-line
filter cum sediment bowl. This can be anywhere in the line, perhaps
in conjunction with the tap. These items can be bought with a quickly
removed glass or metal bowl. A glass bowl enables you to see how
much dirt or water has collected, but a filter with a glass bowl should
not be placed near the engine or a possible source of heat or flames,
as it may well crack in the event of a fire.
A petrol tap is essential with a gravity feed, so that the flow can be
stopped in the event of a fire, and possible leakage prevented by
turning off the tap when leaving the boat for the week. On a pump
feed with the tank below the level of the carburettor it is still a good
safeguard, but obviously not so necessary. If the tank is above the
carburettor with a pump feed, when the engine is switched off the
pump will not necessarily stop petrol flowing by gravity if there is a
leak, say in the carburettor. Whether or not the pump you fit has a
non-return action can be found by attempting to blow and suck
through it.
Any carburettor which can flood and overflow should be fitted
with a small drip tray covered with copper gauze. A flame trap or air
filter should also be fitted on the air intake. This is a requirement of
the Thames Conservancy.
See the notes in Chapter Nine on diesels for diesel fuel tanks and
feeds.
Safety
Petrol fumes in the bilge of a boat can turn into a bomb if a spark is
made by the starter motor commutator or if there is a flame as on the
pilot light of a gas refrigerator. Inland waterway authorities usually
have regulations on the subject of petrol tank and fuel installations.
Otherwise follow the rules of the SBBNF (see Appendix). Leakage
into the bilges must be avoided at all costs, so a gravity fuel system
should only be used in an open boat. In a more enclosed boat the tank
should be low down and the fuel should be pumped up to the
92
carburettor. There should be no penetrations through the bottom or
sides of the tank. The tank must be of a metal, certainly not plastic or
GRP or rubber which will melt very quickly in a fire. The whole fuel
system including the deck filler connection should be earthed. One
danger is when the engine refuses to start and is turned over by the
starter motor with the throttle open. Often the cause is dirt in the
float chamber needle valve which makes the carburettor overflow
hence the need for a good-sized drip tray under the carburettor as
well as a vigilant nose.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Electrics
Generally speaking, the car-type circuit and electrical fittings can be
fitted directly to the boat Obviously the system will work, but
protection from spray and damp is vital if car-type fittings such as
the regulator/cut-out and switches are to last very long. This applies
especially to craft on the sea. Inland, in fresh waters, there is not the
same problem, and providing the equipment is kept out of the rain it
should last as long as when fitted in a car. It is amazing how a salty
atmosphere corrodes small pieces of unprotected mild steel found in
switches and such. Once wetted by salt water, damp seems to be
attracted. Condensation in boats is an ever-present problem, espe
cially in the autumn first thing in the morning. Everything becomes
wringing wet-inland or on the sea.
Marine electrics avoid mild steel parts and use brass instead.
Hence they are more expensive and difficult to obtain. Dynamos and
starters are usually identical to the car types, except that they are
given a 'marine finish', i.e. the internals are coated with an anti-damp
substance. The wonderful modern aerosol sprays that can be
obtained, such as Rocket WD-40, will help to produce this 'marine
finish' on all electrical equipment, especially the high tension circuit
When buying switches, for example, take along a magnet and reject
anything which is attracted by the magnet, as this will indicate steel.
Circuits
Regulator/
cut-out
Solenoid
Ignition switch
Starter
111---d...__J
Fan
To distribution box and
hence lights etc. Return
lead to earth
A car electrical system does not have to cater for long periods of
discharge when the engine is not running. On a boat the cabin lights
may need to be on for several hours each evening. The generator and
battery capacity normal on cars is sufficient for small boats and
electrical loads. For instance, a cabin on a 23-footer is adequately lit
by 24 watts. This is a drain of 2 amps on the battery
(amps = watts+ volts). Car batteries are usually about 40 amp
hours (AH), which means that they can give 1 amp for 40 hours or 2
for 20, and so on. So a 24 watt bulb would drain a fully charged
battery in 20 hours, and although this seems adequate for an even
ing's light, there must still be enough left in the battery for the
morning's engine start. A larger battery and an alternator is the
answer. Quite often the dynamo can be swapped for an alternator
using the same bolt holes. The great advantage of an alternator is the
fact that charging still carries on even with the engine idling, and
much higher charging rates are possible. It does mean that heavier
cables must be used. The charging circuit for an alternator is shown
here (38).
One alternative to an alternator is to fit two generators, separate
charging circuits and two batteries. Another alternative is to fit a
Ammeter
To fuse box, lights, etc
Ignition switch
Charge Off
Regulator
38 Charging circuit with alternator
96
larger dynamo feeding two batteries through a blocking diode unit.
One battery is purely for engine starting, so always fresh, and the
other for lights, etc. Dynamos can be picked up from scrapyards very
cheaply, and when fitted with new brushes costing a few pence will
give several more years' service. Similarly regulator/cut-outs can be
obtained cheaply. Alternators are very expensive when new but are
obtainable second-hand or from the scrap yard. Merely fitting a larger
battery than is standard for the car will not give much extra capacity
because the limit is then the dynamo, which will still only give the
same output. Obviously, if more is taken out, more has to be put
back in. Lead-acid batteries do not last as long in a boat as in a car;
infrequent use and no use at all during the winter soon ruins them.
Five years is an average figure even with monthly charges during
the winter and regular all-the-year-round-topping-up. Nevertheless,
they are the most popular type because of their low price. Alkaline
batteries will last for 20 years or so, but their initial cost is con
siderably higher. There are many of these batteries on the surplus
market at far cheaper prices. Make sure, however, that the alkaline
battery you buy is suitable for engine starting, i.e. has a low internal
resistance. Other advantages of alkaline batteries are that they are
not damaged by high charge rates and do not need any attention over
the winter.
Batteries are lumpy items and should be fitted in an easily acces
sible box strongly fastened to the boat. A wooden box is best for a
lead-acid battery and a steel one for an alkaline battery. It must be
remembered that explosive gases are produced while charging, and
batteries should be situated in a freely ventilated space. They should
also have a fitted top to prevent a screwdriver, for instance, dropping
down and shorting across the terminals. This is a Thames
Conservancy regulation. A master switch is a very good safeguard
against a flat battery and possible electroyltic corrosion while the
boat is moored idle during the week. Battery master switches cost
only a few pounds and fit on a battery terminal.
Cables
39 Cable ratings
Wooden lever
Steel tube
Throttle
Instruments
Diesels
There is a touch of magic in the word 'diesel': it conjures up some
thing which is far more desirable but less easily attained in com
parison to a petrol engine. Although the diesel has some undisputed
advantages, it is by no means always the logical choice for boat
propulsion. One of the great attractions is the far greater economy of
running. A diesel will consume about 0-4 pints per horsepower per
hour, compared to about 0-65 for a petrol car engine. There is not
only this fact, but diesel fuel bought at the waterside is cheaper in
most countries. The absence of electrical ignition and a carburettor
makes the diesel more reliable, while diesel fuel is far safer than
petrol because, at normal temperatures, it does not vaporise to form
explosive mixtures.
Diesel engines are built to very high standards, particularly the
fuel pump, and the cost of a new engine is much greater than a petrol
engine of the same power. No matter how an engine is acquired and
converted, new, used or from a scrapyard, the finished article will
inevitably have cost more. As pleasure boats do not run for many
hours each year (100 hours is more than average) it will be quite a
few years before the savings in the fuel bill will pay off the extra
initial cost.
Weight is another problem. A BLMC 2-2 complete with gearbox
will come out at about 800 lb, whereas a 1100 cc petrol engine
complete with gearbox will weigh less than half of this7 yet produce
the same power. This factor rules out diesels for small runabouts,
and in fact it is not until the 25 ft mark is reached that automotive
diesels are often used in fast craft. For the displacement type of boat
the extra weight is really of no consequence, but there is still the
problem of actually lifting it into the boat. Three men can lift a 1100
cc petrol engine into place, but a mechanical lift is required for all
but the smallest diesels.
Noise and vibration are other disadvantages of the diesel. Unlike a
petrol engine, which produces less noise the slower it is run, diesels
give off a characteristic clatter even when idling-in fact, they seem
to run more smoothly at high speeds. A truck diesel rigidly mounted
in a hull will inevitably cause tremendous vibration and noise,
especially at certain levels of engine revs, when the whole hull will
106
vibrate in sympathy with the engine. A glassfibre hull is particularly
susceptible to this sympathetic vibration, and in bad cases the hull
quivers like a jelly and you wonder whether the bottom is going to
fall out. The answer, of course, lies in flexible mounts and noise
reduction techniques as described in Chapter Eleven.
A final disadvantage is the smell of diesel oil. Some people object
to it and it does tend to soak into woodwork rather than evaporate
rapidly like petrol. Attention to the tightness of the fuel lines, the
fitting of a crankcase breather pipe to the air inlet and a drip tray
underneath the engine will usually take care of this problem.
People who are familiar with car engines will be happier convert
ing a petrol engine rather than a diesel, but the two types of engine
are basically very similar. Mechanically, the pistons, crankshaft
and valves are similar but more robust. In lieu of the carburettor
there is a fuel pump, which via fuel injectors mounted in place of
spark plugs injects neat fuel into the cylinders. Fuel pumps are
either of the in-line type or the distributor type, and both,are built
with the precision of a fine watch. DIY work on these items is out
of the question, but exchange will reduce the cost. Injectors, which
have a life between testing of anything up to 2500 hours, can also be
exchanged.
Just as a car petrol engine can be marinised and installed in a boat,
so a truck or taxi diesel engine can be used. Basically the same
arguments apply, but it is the differences in conversion and installa
tion that this chapter is about. Nowadays most marine diesels are
marinised automotive engines; in fact there has been a surge of
professional marinisation, particularly of Ford diesels-the 27 l 2E
and 2715E-and the range of BLMC diesels. The specification
usually includes heat exchanger cooling, Jabsco seawater pumps,
external engine oil and gearbox oil coolers, an alternator and a
hydraulically operated marine gearbox.
Overhauling
Much the same techniques apply to the diesel. The valve springs are
considerably stiffer and require robust spring compressing tools.
Before fitting the injectors it is best to adjust the tappets, as diesels
with their high compression ratios take a lot of effort to turn over. If
the fuel pump has been serviced, the fuel level will have to be topped
107
up. The inspection cover is loosened and oil pumped up with the
auxiliary hand pump until oil comes out of the level plug hole. The
injector pipes must be carefully tightened and bending of the pipes
avoided, or they will readily fracture. Any steadying clips on the
pipes must be replaced, as long, unsupported lengths of this high
pressure piping will soon crack from vibration.
Cooling
Heat exchanger cooling is most often used for diesels because the
designed running temperature of the basic engine is high-about
l 80 ° F. With a direct salt water system, the temperature would have
to be restricted to 135 ° F to avoid salt deposition in the water pas
sages, and incomplete combustion resulting in sooting up would
occur to a greater extent. This is especially true if the engine is to
work normally at less than its full horsepower. With a closed circuit
system the water temperature rise as it passes through a block is
quite small (10 ° -20 ° F), whereas with a direct system it may be up to
80 ° F. It is obvious that with a direct system parts of the block or
head will be overcooled, quite apart from the thermal strains inevit
ably set up. Direct cooling is a second rate method of cooling for any
engine, and over a long period of time (several hundred running
hours) diesels have atomiser troubles and experience far greater
wear, due partly to quicker deterioration of the lubricating oil and
partly to the lower cylinder temperatures. Noise is greater too.
The flow rate of seawater through the heat exchanger should be
about 1 · 5 gallons per minute per 10 HP, or about O· 8 if direct
cooled. Gas-blow into the water passages through the cylinder
head gasket is often a problem with diesels, as it can interfere
with the coolant flow. Keeping the header tank as high as pos
sible and the fresh water circuit as simple as possible usually
avoids this trouble. Many proprietary makes of heat exchangers fit
directly on the thermostat housing, thus making the circuit very
simple.
The factors determining whether the exhaust manifold and the
engine oil require cooling are the same as for a petrol engine. If
anything there is less necessity to cool the exhaust manifold because
the diesel is more efficient and less heat is carried away down the
exhaust pipe.
108
Gearbox
Smaller diesels as fitted in taxis and vans usually have four-speed
gearboxes of approximately the same ratios as car gearboxes,
although the reverse ratio is often much larger-upwards of 6 : 1.
Truck gearboxes often have more forward ratios and even higher
reverse ratios. Due to the higher reverse ratios the simple method of
conversion, i.e. using the third gears to drive the layshaft, is not so
effective. On the other hand diesel gearboxes tend to be more roomy
inside and larger chain sprockets can be fitted in lieu of the gears, so
that more power can be transmitted. A diesel gives a more impulsive
torque because of the high compression ratio, and a higher shock
factor must be taken into account when choosing a chain drive.
Conversion can be carried out as described in Chapter Four on
gearboxes: fundamentally there is no difference.
Marine gearboxes are more often fitted to diesels than to car
engines, perhaps because the cost of a marine box becomes compar
atively less after spending more on buying and converting a diesel
engine. Because the horsepowers are no greater the same boxes can
be fitted. The marine boxes most often adopted are the Borg Warrter,
PRM and TMP. Several firms who marinise engines can supply
adapter plates to fit popular engines such as the BLMC I ·5 and 2·5
and Ford 2400 and 2700 series.
The clutches on diesels inevitably need more force to disengage
and a robust system of control is necessary. A hydraulic system is
undoubtedly the best.
Fuel supply
It is absolutely imperative that the engine is fed with clean fuel,
especially if it is fitted with the distributor type of injection pump.
109
Paper element filter
Dirt in the fuel plays havoc with the injection system, and is the
diesel's Achilles' heel as far as reliability goes. Copper gauze and a
water trap is not a good enough system: the fuel must be micro
filtered. A 3 micron filter is usually required. These are readily
available through commercial vehicle dealers (e.g. CAV or Simms),
the actual filter element being renewable. The element should be
changed every season or every 150 hours' running. It will also
remove water droplets and air bubbles, which cause erratic running.
Quite often a fuel micro-filter is fitted to the engine. Two micro-filters
are a very worthwhile precaution. Although the first in the line will
take out 99% of the dirt the second will cater for the times when the
first filter is replaced and the bowl cleaned out-in the process it is
difficult to avoid dirt bypassing the first filter. The second filter will
only need replacing very infrequently. In any case, it is well to have a
simple bowl-type water/dirt trap in the line. Air bubbles in the
system will cause erratic running or stoppage, and if air gets into the
line, either through running out of fuel or when part of the system is
disconnected, the whole system has to be bled. This must be done in
strict sequence according to the engine manual.
The filter is usually bled first by slackening off the bleed screw
mounted on top while pumping fuel through, using the fuel pump
priming lever. The fuel pump is done next using the bleed valves in
JJO
Air bleed
Air bleed
the pump. Finally, the injector pressure pipes should be slackened off
at the injectors and the engine cranked over with the speed control
open, until all air bubbles have dispersed. The heater plugs can be
removed to release the compression. If no heater plugs are fitted, the
injectors can be removed, but be careful not to let the high pressure
spray from the injectors impinge on your hand-it can cause derma
titis. Whenever replacing injectors make sure that the copper sealing
washers are in good order. Also, never bend the pipes--take off both
end connectors. Electric heater plugs, when fitted, are used for cold
starts. They are left on for about a minute before operating the
starter. The current taken is about 10 amps per cylinder.
Stopping a diesel is achieved by cutting off the fuel supply at the
fuel injection pump. A separat� pull cable with spring return, leading
to the - control position is usual. However an electric solenoid
working on the cut-off lever on the pump and operated via the starter
key is more convenient. A cable stop control can always be left pulled
out unintentionally!
A diesel must never be stopped by turning off the cock in the fuel
pipe, because air will be forced into the system and it will have to be
bled again. A cock is useful at the tank if you want to disconnect part
of the system, or if there is a fire. Normally, it is best never to shut
the cock off because it is so easy to forget to turn it on again. The
111
safety aspect of the fuel system is not nearly so critical as in a petrol
engined boat.
Diesels need a return pipe to the main tank because the injection
pump takes far more fuel than it needs for injection. This flow cools
the pump so the return fuel flow is warm which means that the return
must not go back to a small header tank because the contents would
gradually become hot.
Plastic fuel lines must never be used partly because of the fire risk
and partly because leakage is more likely. If the tank is below the
level of the fuel lift pump then the fuel in the pipe will be under
suction and any leak will leak air into the system causing erratic
running and non-starting. For this reason a higher tank level is
desirable even with a metal pipe. Car engine lubricating oils are not
usually suitable for diesels. A heavy duty oil at least to US Ordnance
Specification MIL-L-2104B is. most often called for (see page 184). If
the engine is new or reconditioned, the oil filter must be discarded and
a new one fitted after the first 15-20 hours' running. It is amazing how
much metal swarf and bits are trapped in the filter at first. The filter
should be changed at least once a year, or after every 150 hours'
running, although obviously the handbook's recommendation must
be used.
Most automotive diesels are fitted with mechanical fuel lift pumps.
The disadvantages of a mechanical pump as fitted to a petrol engine
disappear because the diesel fuel does not and cannot, in fact, evapor
ate out of the system, and vapour locks cannot be formed.
Tanks may be made of steel (but lead coated), stainless steel,
aluminium alloy or glassfibre, using self-quenching resin to BS S476
Part I. Copper and galvanised steel are best avoided as they tend to
form sludge over a long period of time.
Electrics
Turbocharging
Several of the larger truck diesels can be found in turbo-charged
form. Essentially a turbo charger is a turbine in the exhaust flow
which drives an air compressor ramming air into the engine. The two
elements are combined into one compact unit called the turbocharger.
Since a greater quantity of air is pushed into the cylinders under
pressure more fuel can be injected without creating smoke and hence
the power is increased. Engine rpm usually remains the same. The
turbocharger does not 'come in' until quite high revs are achieved,
usually it can be heard as a high pitched whine. The extra power-for
very little extra weight-makes a turbocharged engine attractive for
planing boats.
Additional power can be achieved if the air rammed into the
engine is cooled (thus increasing its density and increasing the mass
flow). This is achieved with an intercooler (or charge air cooler)-an
air/ sea-water heat exchanger.
Increasing 'amounts' of turbocharging (i.e. increasing the boost
pressure) creates more power but increases the need for intercooling
and the need to modify the compression ratio.
Needless to say turbochargers are expensive little items and need
to be matched to the engine. Also the engine has to be suitable for
turbocharging so if a turbocharged engine is what is wanted it is best
to marinise an engine already fitted with a turbocharger or at least to
choose an engine for which turbocharging parts are available.
See next page for table of current diesels suitable for marinisation.
114
Current popular diesels for marinisation
Propeller
The object of this chapter is not only to enable you to choose a
propeller size which will suit the engine and boat but also to show
how to choose a reduction ratio for the gearbox in the planning stage.
Choosing a propeller
There are three governing factors which determine propeller size.
These are the speed of water in way of the propeller assuming the
propeller is not there, the horsepower the propeller is given, and the
propeller shaft r.p.m.
The first factor, water speed, is the most difficult to estimate. It
depends on two things, the boat's speed and the nature of the water
flow aft. The boat's speed is dictated largely by the horsepower of the
engine and the waterline length of the hull (45, 46). The propeller
a; 40
.J:. 30
C:
·5,
C:
20
10
0
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Speed knots
45 Curves for speed estimation; displacement boats
116
does, of course, have an effect because of its varying efficiency, but
for propeller selection this can be ignored. Fortunately correct pro
peller size is not very sensitive to inaccuracies in speed estimation.
The nature of the hull aft varies the speed of flow into the propel
ler. If the propeller is completely below the bottom of the boat, as on
a hard chine speedboat, the speed of water ('velocity' in the Propeller
Tables) can be taken as the speed of the boat. On the other hand, in
the case of a deep-keeled yacht with the propeller fitted in an aperture
the water flow to the propeller will have been slowed down by
friction on the bottom, so that the propeller will be working in the
wake which is, in fact, being dragged along with the hull. Conse
quently although the boat may be doing 8 knots, as far as the
propeller is concerned it may only have an inflow of 6 knots--a 25%
reduction (4 7).
The engine HP must also be estimated. If the full HP is to be used,
obviously the manufacturer's figures will do. It is best to lop off
about I 0% from their figures to allow for losses in the gearbox and
transmission. The corresponding rated r.p.m. reduced by the reduc
tion ratio should be used as the propeller r.p.m. in the table. Where
the full HP of the engine is not going to be used, then a careful
estimate has to be made, together with a realistic engine r.p.m. It is
f
g_ 150t----+----+----+---r----.f-7''------r-+---
Ql
(/)
� 100 t----+----+----,,..+-'----o<'-------,.1£-----+-�=--"-+----j
·5,
C
UJ
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Speed knots
46 Curves for speed estimation; planing boats
0%
10%
25%
30%
100 ___________-+---+
HP
PER
TON
50--------
Fully
Planing
o I -ef: I I I I I I I I I
-
2 4 6 8 10
V
" i!' �
/[
» 30f!WI.
48 Guidelines for choosing engine power. To plane properly at least 50 HP/ton is necessary, although it
is always better to have a margin of power to cater for rough water, a fouled bottom or the weight of extra
passengers and gear. HP is total maximum, TON is all-up weight of boat plus fuel and crew, Vis speed in
knots, L is length on waterline in feet
120
should suit. This can be rounded to 16-5 x 11. This propeller will
restrict the engine r.p.m. at full throttle to about 2600 r.p.m. when
the engine would develop about 25 HP. This does not matter, as even
the fastest cruise contemplated involves only 10 HP and 2000 r.p.m.
If a smaller propeller were fitted the engine would be able to rev
faster at full throttle, thus producing more power and a little more
boat speed. But this would then mean that to absorb 10 HP, i.e. to
travel at 6½ knots, the propeller and thus the engine would have to
run faster than 2000 r.p.m., thus running very light and producing
more noise. It's a delicate compromise between overloading and
underloading the engine. A 16 · 5 x 11 propeller is fairly large for a
20 ft boat, but is very efficient (about 50%) for the low speed. If the
aperture only allows, say, a 15 in. propeller then it will not affect the
'mating' of the engine to the propeller very much if 1½ in. is knocked
off the diameter and added to the pitch, making the propeller size
15 X 12-5.
A displacement type sea-going 22 ft glassfibre transom sterned
cruiser, with a BLMC 2-2 litre diesel and l½: 1 reduction. The
engine develops a maximum of 42 HP at 3000 r.p.m., which is
excessive power for a boat of this size (48). In this case, rather than
fit a propeller which restricts the full throttle r.p.m., thus restricting
the horsepower, it is better to choose a propeller that can absorb
the full HP at the full r.p.m., and normally run the engine at less than
full throttle. The speed of the boat with 42 HP would be about 10
knots (45), although cavitation may well set in, and in any case the
boat would be trying to climb an enormous self-induced wave.
However, this is just the design case, and assuming 20% wake (4 7)
the figures to find in the tables are 8, 38, (10% off for transmission
loss) 2000. The nearest line gives a propeller of 14-6 x 9-2. It would
be better to err on the large size in this case, when rounding the
figures, so a 15 x 9 should suit.
An 18 ft hard-chine runabout with a 1600 cc Ford petrol engine
developing 60 HP at 4500 r.p.m. This is a light boat with a shallow
vee bottom and will achieve a maximum of about 26 knots (46). The
propeller will be in 'open' water so there will be no wake reduction,
and as the drive is direct the propeller r.p.m. will be 4500. DHP will
be 54 assuming 10% losses. The nearest to these figures in the Tables
are 25, 50, 4000. Judging the extra SOO r.p.m. gives a propeller
8-5 x 9. The high speed section of the Propeller Tables has not been
divided into such fine steps as the lower speed sections, because
121
propeller choice for high speed is very much more a process of trial
and error. However, the tables do give a starting point If on trials the
r.p.m. do not get up to 4500, then you would reduce the size a little,
either by cutting off the tips or exchanging the propeller for another.
If the engine 'ran away' and overspeeded, the propeller size would
need to be increased. The correct propeller will give 4500 r.p.m. and
the best boat speed.
Reduction ratios
The preceding paragraphs show how to choose a propeller size when
the boat, engine and gearbox are already there or decided upon. In
the planning stage it is possible with these Propeller Tables to deter
mine the optimum reduction ratio from those available in the car
gearbox or the marine box.
The larger the propeller the greater the efficiency, i.e. the greater
the thrust given to the boat for each HP absorbed. To take an
example from the tables, compare the efficiency figures given for 6,
40, 2000 and 6, 40, 1000 (38-8% and 46-2% respectively). Both
propellers absorb 40 HP at a water inflow speed of 6 knots, but one
revolves half as fast as the other, and is, of course, a much larger
propeller. The low-speed one is 7-4% more efficient and will give
that much more push. If the whole table is studied it will be seen that
as the boat speed increases the general order of efficiency increases
and the gain of a reduction ratio becomes less. Also at slow speeds as
the power increases, the efficiency drops rapidly to around 30--40%,
which is low. Generally, 50% is an average figure and 60% very
good. The need, therefore, for a low propeller r.p.m. and conse
quently a reduction ratio becomes more important at low boat speeds
and high powers, e.g. a heavy canal boat or heavy seagoing fishing
launch. To generalise, it is best to keep the propeller r.p.m. below
2000 for speeds below I 0 knots. This entails a reduction of at least
2 : I when powering the boat with a car engine, unless the full revs
and horsepower of the engine are not required.
The governing factor for a low propeller r.p.m. is usually the size
of the propeller aperture. It is well to allow a clearance of at least
15% of the diameter of the propeller between the tips and the hull.
This is particularly important where there is a flat surface of hull
directly above the propeller. A double ended hull like an ex-lifeboat
is not in this category, but these hulls do have a problem which is
122
worth mentioning here. As there is no area of hull directly above the
propeller, air tends to get sucked down, resulting in engine racing
and loss of thrust. Pitching in a seaway also brings the propeller tips
out of the water. A 'cavitation' plate is the answer. This is usually a
horizontal galvanised steel plate faired into the hull and fitted directly
over the tips of the propeller.
Getting back to the selection of a reduction ratio, the largest
diameter propeller that can be fitted is the starting point Having
chosen an engine horsepower an approximate boat speed can be
found (45). Now look down the Tables until the appropriate water
flow speed and horsepower are found. It will be noted that as the
propeller r.p.m. comes down, the propeller diameter goes up.
Choose, therefore, the propeller r.p.m. that gives the largest propeller
diameter that can be fitted. This r.p.m. divided into the engine r.p.m.
gives the optimum reduction ratio. By experimenting with a few
figures you will soon see what I mean. In the planning stages, it is
possible to look into and decide engine and propeller revs and pro
peller size, so that problems do not occur later on. It is sometimes
found on trials that the reduction ratio fitted is too great and there is
not enough space for the correspondingly large propeller to be fitted.
To generalise once again, for an ordinary car engine fitted in an
inland cruiser 1½: 1 is usually a good compromise, although 1: 1 or
2 : 1 can sometimes be used. A seagoing boat using more horsepower
should have at least 2 : 1, possibly 3 : 1, while a fast runabout could
have 1: 1 or possibly 1½: 1.
Cavitation
This occurs when the propeller is overloaded, i.e. asked to produce
too much thrust for the area of its blades. The water on the forward
faces of the blades literally boils, the cavitation thus formed spectacu
larly reducing the thrust and giving rise to tremendous noise and
vibration. It usually occurs in two cases, firstly a heavy, slow boat
being pushed too hard by a big engine coupled to a fast-running propel
ler, and secondly, in high speed boats. The best cure in the first case is to
fit a reduction ratio and, in the second one, to fit a propeller with wider
blades, thus increasing the blade area. Fitting a propeller with a greater
number of blades is another way of increasing the area. It is easy to
mistake air being sucked into the propeller from the surface for
cavitation, and the term 'anti-cavitation plate' is rather a misnomer.
123
The least blade area (total area of one side of all blades) to avoid
cavitation is approximately as follows (although at 5 knots it is
more a question of avoiding excessive slip).
Max speed of boat sq. ins. per max engine HP
knots (per shaft)
5 5.6
10 2.7
20 1.25
30 0.63
It is easy enough to measure the area of one blade of an existing
propeller by pressing a I-inch squared piece of graph paper onto the
blade and then counting the whole squares and estimating the part
squares. Multiply this area by the number of blades.
The area of the circle described by the tips of the blades is found by
the formula 0·78 (Diam")2. The area of the blades will be some
fraction of the circle area. This ratio is called the blade area ratio
(BAR). If the blade area is half the circle area the BAR is 0.5 which is
a common BAR for fast craft or for slower ones where the prop revs
are rather too high ( 1: 1 or 1 ½: 1 reduction being employed rather
than the more efficient 2: 1). Yachts with small engines and 2-bladed
props usually have a BAR of 0.2 or 0.3. Anything more than 0.5 is
usually a 'special' and not available ready cast.
In the propeller tables on the following pages it will be noticed that
the efficiency column is left blank at 20 knots and above. This is
because the efficiency at higher speeds is always good, and this factor
is therefore not such an important constraint as the level of
cavitation. In choosing a propeller on a fast boat one should check
that the blade area is sufficient. If it turns out that a very large BAR is
required then a greater reduction ratio (slower propeller rpm) will be
needed to give a larger diameter propeller which of course, for the
same BAR, gives more blade area.
124
Stern gear
To finish off this chapter, here are a few practical points on propel
lers and stern gear. Propellers are usually three-bladed and are
termed either left-handed or right-handed. A left-handed propeller
revolves anti-clockwise when looking forward at it from behind the
boat A right-handed propeller is the opposite. The size
(diameter x pitch) is usually stamped on the boss. The thinner the
blade section and the sharper the edges the more efficient it will be,
but the increase in efficiency is small. It will, of course, be less
robust Propellers usually come in inch or half-inch sizes, so prob
ably all the figures in the tables, after any necessary adjustment, will
have to be rounded up or down. Part exchange of propellers is quite
common.
The angle of the propeller shaft to the horizontal should not be
more than I 0° . The deadwood or stern post immediately in front of
the propeller should be faired to an edge, so that the inflow of water
will not be so turbulent. Cavitation is often induced by a square
ended stern post on heavy auxiliary yachts.
The minimum shaft size is dependent on the horsepower and shaft
revs (49). It is always best to be generous with shaft diameters, and
for car engines 1 in. is usually a suitable size. Stern tubes are
described in Chapter Five, on mounting and drive; so too is the
subject of bearing spacing.
HP per 100 shaft rpm shaft diameter ins.
I i
If I
2 Ii
2t I¼
4½ Il
10 2
Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam . Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
4 4 800 50·5 16·0 10·5 4 12 1200 39·9 15·6 9·5
4 4 900 49·3 14·9 9·6 4 12 1300 39·0 15·0 9·1
4 4 1000 48·0 13·9 8·9 4 12 1400 38·4 14·4 8·8
4 4 1100 46·7 13·2 8·3 4 14 800 43·6 20·5 12·5
4 4 1200 45·7 12·5 7·8 4 14 900 42·3 19·1 11·6
4 4 1300 44·9 11·9 7.4 4 14 1000 41·2 17·9 10·9
4 4 1400 44·2 11·4 7·0 4 14 1100 40·1 17·0 10·4
4 4 1500 43·5 10·9 6·7 4 14 1200 39·0 16·2 9·9
4 4 1600 42·8 10·5 6·4 4 14 1300 38·4 15·5 9·5
4 4 1700 42·2 10·1 6·2 4 16 800 42·8 21·0 12·8
4 4 1800 41·6 9·8 6·0 4 16 900 41·6 19·6 12·0
4 4 1900 41·1 9·5 5·8 4 16 1000 40·5 18·5 11·3
4 4 2000 40·5 9·2 5·6 4 16 1100 39·2 17·5 10·7
4 4 2100 39·9 9·0 5.5 4 16 1200 38·5 16·7 10·2
4 4 2200 39·2 8·7 5·3 4 20 800 41·7 22·0 13·4
4 6 800 48·3 17·3 11·0 4 20 900 40·3 20·6 12·5
4 6 900 46·7 16·1 10·2 4 20 1000 39·0 19·4 11·8
4 6 1000 45·5 15·1 9.4 4 20 1100 38·3 18·4 11·2
4 6 1100 44·6 14·3 8·8 4 25 800 40·5 23·1 14·1
4 6 1200 43·8 13·5 8·3 4 25 900 39·0 21·6 13·2
4 6 1300 42·9 12·9 7.9 4 25 1000 38·2 20·4 12·4
4 6 1400 42·1 12·3 7. 5 4 30 800 39·3 24·0 14·6
4 6 1500 41·4 11·9 7·2 4 30 900 38·3 22·5 13·7
4 6 1600 40·5 11·4 7·0 4 35 800 38·6 24·9 15·2
4 6 1700 40·0 11·0 6·7 4 40 800 38·1 25·7 15·6
4 6 1800 39·2 10·7 6·5
4 6 1900 38·7 10·4 6·3 6 4 800 62·5 14·9 13·3
4 6 2000 38·3 10·1 6·2 6 4 900 61·3 14·1 11·9
4 8 800 46·4 18·3 11·5 6 4 1000 60·3 13·3 10·9
4 8 900 45·1 17·1 10·6 6 4 1100 59·3 12·6 10·0
4 8 1000 44·2 16·0 9·8 6 4 1200 58·3 12·0 9·3
4 8 1100 43·1 15·1 9·2 6 4 1300 57·2 11·5 8·6
4 8 1200 42·2 14·3 8·7 6 4 1400 56·4 11·1 8·1
4 8 1300 41·4 13·7 8·4 6 4 1500 55·6 10·7 7·7
4 8 1400 40·5 13·1 8·0 6 4 1600 54·8 10·4 7·3
4 8 1500 39·7 12·6 7.7 6 4 1700 54·0 10·1 7·0
4 8 1600 38·9 12·2 7 .4 6 4 1800 53·3 9·8 6·7
4 8 1700 38·5 11·8 7·2 6 4 1900 52·6 9.5 6·4
4 8 1800 38·0 11·4 7·0 6 4 2000 51·9 9·2 6·2
4 10 800 45·1 19·2 11·9 6 4 2100 51·2 8·9 6·0
4 10 900 44·1 17·8 10·9 6 4 2200 50·5 8·7 5·7
4 10 1000 42·9 16·7 10·2 6 6 800 60·5 16·5 13·6
4 10 1100 41·9 15·8 9·6 6 6 900 59·2 15·4 12·2
4 10 1200 41-1 15·0 9·2 6 6 1000 58·0 14·6 11·1
4 10 1300 40·3 14·4 8·8 6 6 1100 56·8 13·9 10·2
4 10 1400 39·2 13·8 8·4 6 6 1200 55·8 13·2 9·6
4 10 1500 38·6 13·3 8·1 6 6 1300 54·9 12·7 9·0
4 10 1600 38·1 12·8 7·8 6 6 1400 53·9 12·3 8·5
4 12 800 44·3 19·9 12·2 6 6 1500 53·0 11·8 8·1
4 12 900 43·1 18·5 11·3 6 6 1600 52·2 11·4 7.7
4 12 1000 42·0 17·4 10·6 6 6 1700 51·3 11·0 7.3
4 12 1100 41-1 16·4 10·0 6 6 1800 50·5 10·6 7·0
127
Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
6 6 1900 49.9 10·3 6·7 6 14 1700 46·2 13·0 8·2
6 6 2000 49·4 10·0 6·5 6 14 1800 45·5 12·6 7·9
6 6 2100 48·8 9.7 6·2 6 14 1900 44·9 12·2 7·6
6 6 2200 48·3 9·4 6·0 6 14 2000 44·5 11·8 7.3
6 8 800 59·0 17·5 13·8 6 14 2100 44·1 11·5 7·0
6 8 900 57·5 16·5 12·4 6 14 2200 43·6 11·1 6·8
6 8 1000 56·3 15·6 11·4 6 16 800 54·8 20·7 14·7
6 8 1100 55·2 14·9 10·6 6 16 900 53·3 19·5 13·4
6 8 1200 54·0 14·2 9·9 6 16 1000 51·9 18·4 12·4
6 8 1300 53·0 13·6 9.3 6 16 1100 50·5 17·4 11·5
6 8 1400 52·0 13·1 8·8 6 16 1200 49·6 16·5 10·7
6 8 1500 51-1 12·6 8·4 6 16 1300 48·7 15·7 10·1
6 8 1600 50·2 12·1 7.9 6 16 1400 47·8 15·0 9·6
6 8 1700 49·6 11·6 7·6 6 16 1500 46·9 14·4 9·1
6 8 1800 49·0 11·3 7.3 6 16 1600 46·1 13·9 8·7
6 8 1900 48·3 10·9 7·0 6 16 1700 45·4 13·4 8·3
6 8 2000 47·7 10·6 6·7 6 16 1800 44·8 12·9 8·0
6 8 2100 47·0 10·3 6·5 6 16 1900 44·4 12·5 7.7
6 8 2200 46·4 10·0 6·3 6 16 2000 43·9 12·1 7.4
6 10 800 57·6 18·5 13·9 6 16 2100 43·4 11·8 7·2
6 10 900 56·2 17·4 12·7 6 16 2200 42·8 11·4 7·0
6 10 1000 54·9 16·5 11·7 6 20 800 53·3 21·9 15·1
6 10 1100 53·7 15·7 10·9 6 20 900 51·8 20·4 13·8
6 10 1200 52·6 15·0 10·2 6 20 1000 50·4 19·3 12·7
6 10 1300 51·5 14·3 9·6 6 20 1100 49·3 18·2 11·8
6 10 1400 50·5 13·7 9·0 6 20 1200 48·3 17·3 11·0
6 10 1500 49·7 13·1 8·6 6 20 1300 47·3 16·4 10·4
6 10 1600 49·0 12·6 8·2 6 20 1400 46·3 15·7 9·9
6 10 1700 48·3 12·2 7·8 6 20 1500 45·6 15·1 9.4
6 10 1800 47·6 11·8 7.5 6 20 1600 44·9 14·5 9·0
6 10 1900 46·9 11·4 7·2 6 20 1700 44·4 14·0 8·6
6 10 2000 46·2 11·0 6·9 6 20 1800 43·8 13·5 8·2
6 10 2100 45.7 10·7 6·7 6 20 1900 43·2 13·1 8·0
6 10 2200 45·2 10·4 6·5 6 20 2000 42·7 12·7 7.7
6 12 800 56·5 19·3 14·2 6 20 2100 42·1 12·3 7.5
6 12 900 55·1 18·2 13·0 6 20 2200 41·7 12·0 7.3
6 12 1000 53·8 17·3 12·0 6 25 800 51·9 22·9 15·5
6 12 1100 52·5 16·3 11·1 6 25 900 50·3 21·4 14·1
6 12 1200 51·4 15·5 10·4 6 25 1000 49·2 20·1 13·0
6 12 1300 50·3 14·9 9·8 6 25 1100 48·0 19·0 12·1
6 12 1400 49·5 14·2 9·2 6 25 1200 46·9 18·0 11·4
6 12 1500 48·7 13·6 8·7 6 25 1300 45·9 17·2 10·8
6 12 1600 47·9 13·1 8·3 6 25 1400 45·1 16·5 10·2
6 12 1700 47·1 12·6 8·0 6 25 1500 44·5 15·8 9·7
6 12 1800 46·4 12·2 7.7 6 25 1600 43·9 15·2 9·3
6 12 1900 45·8 11·8 7·4 6 25 1700 43·2 14·6 8·9
6 12 2000 45·2 11·5 7·1 6 25 1800 42·6 14·1 8·6
6 12 2100 44·8 11-1 6·9 6 25 1900 42·0 13·7 8·3
6 12 2200 44.4 10·8 6·6 6 25 2000 41·5 13·3 8·1
6 14 800 55·6 20·0 14·4 6 25 2100 41·1 12·9 7.9
6 14 900 54·1 18·9 13·2 6 25 2200 40·5 12·6 7·7
6 14 1000 52·8 17·8 12·2 6 30 800 50·6 23·9 15·8
6 14 1100 51·5 16·9 11·3 6 30 900 49·3 22·2 14·4
6 14 1200 50·3 16·1 10·6 6 30 1000 48·1 20·9 13·3
6 14 1300 49.5 15·3 9.9 6 30 1100 46·8 19·7 12·4
6 14 1400 48·6 14·6 9.4 6 30 1200 45·8 18·7 11·7
6 14 1500 47·8 14·0 8·9 6 30 1300 44·9 17·8 11·0
6 14 1600 46·9 13·5 8·5 6 30 1400 4 17·0 10·4
128
Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
6 30 1500 43·6 16·3 10·0 6 60 1600 39·0 18·2 11·1
6 30 1600 42·9 15·7 9-6 6 60 1700 38·5 17·6 10·8
6 30 1700 42·2 15·2 9-2 6 60 1800 38·1 17·1 10·4
6 30 1800 41·7 14·7 8-9 6 70 800 45·6 28·3 17·6
6 30 1900 41·2 14·2 8-7 6 70 900 44·5 26·3 16·2
6 30 2000 40·5 13·8 8·4 6 70 1000 43·4 24·7 15·1
6 30 2100 40·0 13·4 8-2 6 70 1100 42·4 23·3 14·2
6 30 2200 39.3 13·1 8·0 6 70 1200 41·5 22·2 13·5
6 35 800 49·8 24·6 16·1 6 70 1300 40·6 21·2 12·9
6 35 900 48·4 22·9 14·7 6 70 1400 39·7 20·3 12·4
6 35 1000 47·1 21·5 13·6 6 70 1500 38·9 19·5 11·9
6 35 1100 45·9 20·3 12·7 6 70 1600 38·4 18·9 11·5
6 35 1200 44-9 19·3 12·0
6 35 1300 44·3 18·4 11·3 8 8 800 65·6 16·5 16·7
6 35 1400 43-5 17·6 10·7 8 8 900 64·8 15·5 15·2
6 35 1500 42·7 16·8 10·3 8 8 1000 63·9 14·7 13·9
6 35 1600 42·1 16·2 9-9 8 8 1100 63·0 14·0 12·8
6 35 1700 41·5 15·7 9·6 8 8 1200 62·2 13·5 11·8
6 35 1800 40·8 15·2 9·2 8 8 1300 61·4 13·0 11·0
6 35 1900 40·2 14·7 9·0 8 8 1400 60·7 12·4 10·3
6 35 2000 39·6 14·3 8·7 8 8 1500 60·0 12·0 9·7
6 35 2100 39·0 13·9 8·5 8 8 1600 59·3 11·5 9·2
6 35 2200 38·6 13·5 8·3 8 8 1700 58·5 11·2 8-7
6 40 800 49·0 25·3 16·3 8 8 1800 57·8 10·8 8·3
6 40 900 47·6 23·5 15·0 8 8 1900 57·1 10·6 7·8
6 40 1000 46·2 22·1 13·9 8 8 2000 56·6 10·3 7.5
6 40 1100 45·2 20·9 13·0 8 8 2100 56·0 10·0 7.3
6 40 1200 44·4 19·8 12·2 8 8 2200 55·5 9·8 7-0
6 40 1300 43·6 18·9 11·5 8 10 800 64·8 17·4 17·1
6 40 1400 42·8 18·0 11·0 8 10 900 63·9 16·4 15·5
6 40 1500 42·0 17·3 10·6 8 10 1000 62·9 15·6 14·1
6 40 1600 41·4 16·7 10·2 8 10 1100 61·9 14·9 12·9
6 40 1700 40·7 16·1 9·8 8 10 1200 61·1 14·3 12·0
6 40 1800 40·1 15·6 9.5 8 10 1300 60·3 13·6 11·2
6 40 1900 39·4 15·1 9·2 8 10 1400 59·5 13·1 10·5
6 40 2000 38·8 14·7 9·0 8 10 1500 58·7 12·6 9·8
6 40 2100 38·5 14·3 8·7 8 10 1600 57·9 12·2 9·3
6 40 2200 38·1 14·0 8·5 8 10 1700 57·1 11·8 8·8
6 50 800 47.7 26·4 16·8 8 10 1800 56·5 11·4 8-4
6 50 900 46·2 24·6 15·5 8 10 1900 55·9 11·1 8·1
6 50 1000 45·0 23·1 14·3 8 10 2000 55·3 10·8 7·8
6 50 1100 44·2 21·8 13·3 8 10 2100 54·7 10·6 7-5
6 50 1200 43.3 20·7 12·6 8 10 2200 54·0 10·3 7·2
6 50 1300 42·4 19·7 12·0 8 12 800 64·1 18·2 17·3
6 50 1400 41·6 18·9 11·5 8 12 900 63·0 17·2 15·7
6 50 1500 40·8 18·2 11·1 8 12 1000 62·0 16·4 14·2
6 50 1600 40·1 17·5 10·7 8 12 1100 61·0 15·6 13·1
6 50 1700 39·4 16·9 10·3 8 12 1200 60·2 14·8 12·1
6 50 1800 38-8 16·4 10·0 8 12 1300 59-3 14·2 11;3
6 50 1900 38-4 15·9 9.7 8 12 1400 58·4 13·6 10·6
6 60 800 46·5 27·4 17·3 8 12 1500 57·6 13·1 9.9
6 60 900 45·1 25·6 15·9 8 12 1600 56·8 12·7 9.4
6 60 1000 44·2 24·0 14·7 8 12 1700 56·1 12·3 9·0
6 60 1100 43·2 22·6 13·8 8 12 1800 55·4 12·0 8·6
6 60 1200 42·3 21·5 13·1 8 12 1900 54·8 11·6 8·2
6 60 1300 41·5 20·5 12·5 8 12 2000 54·1 11·4 7.9
6 60 1400 40·5 19·6 12·0 8 12 2100 53·4 11·1 7·6
6 60 1500 39·8 18·9 11·5 8 12 2200 52·9 10·8 7·4
129
Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
8 14 800 63·4 18·9 17·5 8 25 2100 48·9 12·9 8·3
8 14 900 62·3 17·9 15·8 8 25 2200 48·3 12·5 8·0
8 14 1000 61·2 17·0 14·3 8 30 800 69·6 22·8 18·3
8 14 1100 60·3 16·1 13·2 8 30 900 58·2 21·4 16·5
8 14 1200 59·3 15·3 12·2 8 30 1000 56·9 20·2 15·0
8 14 1300 58·4 14·7 11·4 8 30 1100 55·9 19·2 13·9
8 14 1400 57·5 14·1 10·6 8 30 1200 54·8 18·4 13·0
8 14 1500 56·6 13·6 10·0 8 30 1300 53·7 17·7 12·3
8 14 1600 55·9 13·2 9·6 8 30 1400 52·8 17·0 11·6
8 14 1700 55·2 12·8 9·1 8 30 1500 51·9 16·3 11·0
8 14 1800 54·5 12·4 8·8 8 30 1600 51·0 15·7 10·5
8 14 1900 53·8 12·1 8·4 8 30 1700 50·2 15·2 10·0
8 14 2000 53·1 11·8 8·1 8 30 1800 49·6 14·7 9·5
8 14 2100 52·5 11·4 7·8 8 30 1900 49·0 14·2 9·2
8 14 2200 51·9 11-1 7·5 8 30 2000 48·4 13·8 8·8
8 16 800 62·8 19·6 17·7 8 30 2100 47·8 13·4 8·5
8 16 900 61·6 18·6 15·9 8 30 2200 47·2 13·0 8·2
8 16 1000 60·6 17·5 14·5 8 35 800 58·7 23·6 18·4
8 16 1100 59·6 16·6 13·3 8 35 900 57·3 22·2 16·6
8 16 1200 58·6 15·8 12·3 8 35 1000 56·1 21·0 15·2
8 16 1300 57·6 15·2 11·4 8 35 1100 54·9 20·0 14·2
8 16 1400 56·7 14·6 10·7 8 35 1200 53·8 19·2 13·3
8 16 1500 55·9 14·1 10·2 8 35 1300 52·8 18·3 12·5
8 16 1600 55·1 13·6 9·7 8 35 1400 51·8 17·5 11·8
8 16 1700 54·4 13·2 9·3 8 35 1500 50·8 16·9 11·2
8 16 1800 53·6 12·9 8·9 8 35 1600 50·0 16·2 10·6
8 16 1900 52·9 12·5 8·5 8 35 1700 49·4 15·6 10·2
8 16 2000 52·2 12·1 8·2 8 35 1800 48·7 15·1 9·7
8 16 2100 51·6 11·8 7.9 8 35 1900 48·1 14·6 9·3
8 16 2200 50·9 11·5 7·6 8 35 2000 47·4 14-2 9·0
8 20 800 61·6 20·9 17·8 8 35 2100 46·8 13·8 8·7
8 20 900 60·5 19·5 16·1 8 35 2200 46·2 13·4 8·4
-9 20 1000 59·4 18·4 14·7 8 40 800 57·9 24·3 18·6
8 20 1100 58·3 17·5 13·5 8 40 900 56·5 22·9 16·8
8 20 1200 57·2 16·7 12·4 8 40 1000 55·3 21·7 15·5
8 20 1300 56·3 16·0 11·7 8 40 1100 54·0 20·7 14·4
8 20 1400 55·4 15·4 11·0 8 40 1200 52·9 19·7 13·5
8 20 1500 54·5 14·9 10·5 8 40 1300 51·9 18·8 12·7
8 20 1600 53·7 14·4 10·0 8 40 1400 50·8 18·1 12·0
8 20 1700 52·9 13·9 9·5 8 40 1500 50·0 17·3 11·4
8 20 1800 52·2 13·5 9·1 8 40 1600 49·3 16·7 10·8
8 20 1900 51·4 13·1 8·7 8 40 1700 48·6 16·1 10·3
8 20 2000 50·7 12·7 8·4 8 40 1800 47·9 15·5 9·9
8 20 2100 50·1 12·3 8·1 8 40 1900 47·2 15·0 9·5
8 20 2200 49·6 12·0 7·8 8 40 2000 46·5 14·6 9·2
8 25 800 60·6 21·9 18·1 8 40 2100 46·0 14·2 8·9
8 25 900 59·3 20·5 16·3 8 40 2200 45·5 13·8 8·6
8 25 1000 58·1 19·4 14·8 8 50 800 56·6 25·7 18·8
8 25 1100 56·9 18·4 13·6 8 50 900 55·2 24·2 17·3
8 25 1200 55·9 17·6 12·8 8 50 1000 53·8 22·9 15·9
8 25 1300 54·9 16·9 12·0 8 50 1100 52·6 21·7 14·8
8 25 1400 54·0 16·3 11·4 8 50 1200 51·4 20·7 13·8
8 25 1500 53·1 15·7 10·8 8 50 1300 50·3 19·8 13·0
8 25 1600 52·2 15·1 10·2 8 50 1400 49·6 18·9 12·3
8 25 1700 51·4 14·6 9·8 8 50 1500 48·8 18·1 11·7
8 25 1800 50·6 14·2 9.4 8 50 1600 48·0 17·4 11·1
8 25 1900 50·0 13·7 9·0 8 50 1700 47·2 16·8 10·6
8 25 2000 49·5 13·3 8·6 8 50 1800 46·5 16·2 10·2
130
Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
8 50 1900 45.9 15·7 9·8 10 16 1700 60·8 12·7 10·6
8 50 2000 45·3 15·3 9.5 10 16 1800 60·3 12·3 10·1
8 50 2100 44·8 14·8 9·2 10 16 1900 59·7 11·9 9·6
8 50 2200 44.4 14·4 8·8 10 16 2000 59·1 11·6 9·2
8 60 800 55.5 26·8 19·3 10 16 2100 58·5 11·3 8·8
8 60 900 54·0 25·3 17·6 10 16 2200 58·0 11·0 8·4
8 60 1000 52·7 23·9 16·3 10 20 800 66·3 19·7 20·5
8 60 1100 51·4 22·6 15·1 10 20 900 65·5 18·5 18·7
8 60 1200 50·2 21·5 14·1 10 20 1000 64·7 17·5 17·1
8 60 1300 49.4 20·5 13·3 10 20 1100 63·9 16·7 15·8
8 60 1400 48·5 19·6 12·5 10 20 1200 63·2 16·0 14·7
8 60 1500 47.7 18·8 11·9 10 20 1300 62·4 15·4 13·6
8 60 1600 46·8 18·1 11·4 10 20 1400 61·6 14·9 12·7
8 60 1700 46·1 17·4 10·9 10 20 1500 61·0 14·3 12·0
8 60 1800 45.4 16·9 10·5 10 20 1600 60·3 13·8 11·3
8 60 1900 44·9 16·3 10·1 10 20 1700 59·7 13·4 10·8
8 60 2000 44·4 15·8 9·7 10 20 1800 59·0 12·9 10·2
8 60 2100 44·0 15·4 9·4 10 20 1900 58·4 12·6 9·7
8 60 2200 43·5 14·9 9·1 10 20 2000 57·8 12·2 9.3
8 70 800 54·6 27·9 19·7 10 20 2100 57·1 11·9 8·9
8 70 900 53·0 26·2 18·0 10 20 2200 56·6 11·6 8·6
8 70 1000 51·6 24·7 16·6 10 25 800 65·5 20·7 21·0
8 70 1100 50·3 23·4 15·4 10 25 900 64·7 19·5 19·0
8 70 1200 49·4 22·2 14·4 10 25 1000 63·8 18·5 17·4
8 70 1300 48·5 21·1 13·5 10 25 1100 62·9 17·7 16·0
8 70 1400 47·6 20·2 12·8 10 25 1200 62·1 17·0 14·8
8 70 1500 46·6 19·4 12·2 10 25 1300 61·3 16·3 13·8
8 70 1600 45·9 18·6 11·7 10 25 1400 60·5 15·6 12·9
8 70 1700 45·2 18·0 11·2 10 25 1500 59·8 15·0 12·2
8 70 1800 44.7 17·4 10·7 10 25 1600 59·1 14·5 11·5
8 70 1900 44·2 16·8 10·3 10 25 1700 58·4 14·1 10·9
8 70 2000 43.7 16·3 9·9 10 25 1800 57·7 13·6 10·3
8 70 2100 43·2 15·8 9·6 10 25 1900 57·0 13·3 9·8
8 70 2200 42·6 15·4 9·4 10 25 2000 56·4 12·9 9·4
10 25 2100 55·9 12·6 9·1
10 14 900 66·6 17·1 18·1 10 25 2200 55·3 12·3 8·8
10 14 1000 66·0 16·1 16·6 10 30 800 64·9 21·6 21·3
10 14 1100 65·3 15·3 15·3 10 30 900 63·9 20·4 19·3
10 14 1200 64·7 14·6 14·3 10 30 1000 63·0 19·4 17·6
10 14 1300 64·0 14·0 13·3 10 30 1100 62·0 18·6 16·2
10 14 1400 63·4 13·5 12·5 10 30 1200 61-1 17·8 15·0
10 14 1500 62·7 13·1 11·8 10 30 1300 60·4 17·0 14·0
10 14 1600 62·1 12·7 11·1 10 30 1400 59·6 16·3 13·1
10 14 1700 61·4 12·4 10·5 10 30 1500 58·8 15·7 12·3
10 14 1800 60·9 12·0 10·0 10 30 1600 58·0 15·1 11·6
10 14 1900 60·4 11·6 9·5 10 30 1700 57·2 14·7 11·0
10 14 2000 59.9 11·3 9·1 10 30 1800 56·6 14·3 10·5
10 14 2100 59·3 11·0 8·7 10 30 1900 56·0 13·9 10·0
10 14 2200 58·8 10·7 8·4 10 30 2000 55·4 13·5 9.7
10 16 800 66·9 18·8 20·1 10 30 2100 54·8 13·2 9·3
10 16 900 66·2 17·6 18·3 10 30 2200 54·2 12·9 9·0
10 16 1000 65·5 16·6 16·8 10 35 800 64·3 22·5 21·6
10 16 1100 64·8 15·8 15·5 10 35 900 63·2 21·2 19·5
10 16 1200 64·2 15·1 14·4 10 35 1000 62·2 20·2 17·8
10 16 1300 63·5 14·5 13·5 10 35 1100 61·2 19·3 16·3
10 16 1400 62·8 14·0 12·6 10 35 1200 60·4 18·4 15·1
10 16 1500 62·1 13·6 11·9 10 35 1300 59·6 17·5 14·1
10 16 1600 61·4 13·2 11·2 10 35 1400 58·7 16·9 13·2
131
Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
10 35 1500 57·9 16·3 12·4 10 70 1300 55·5 20·7 14·9
10 35 1600 57·0 15·7 11·7 TO 70 1400 54·5 19·9 14·0
10 35 1700 56·4 15·2 11·1 10 70 1500 53·6 19·3 13·3
10 35 1800 55.7 14·8 10·7 10 70 1600 52·8 18·6 12·7
10 35 1900 55·1 14·4 10·2 10 70 1700 52·0 17·9 12·1
10 35 2000 54·4 14·0 9.9 10 70 1800 51·2 17·4 11·6
10 35 2100 53·7 13·7 9·5 10 70 1900 50·4 16·8 11·1
10 35 2200 53·2 13·4 9·2 10 70 2000 49·9 16·3 10·7
10 40 800 63·7 23·2 21·8 10 70 2100 49·4 15·8 10·3
10 40 900 62·6 22·0 19·7 10 70 2200 48·9 15·4 9·9
10 40 1000 61·5 21·0 17·8
10 40 1100 60·6 19·9 16·4 12 20 1200 66·6 15·5 16·3
10 40 1200 59·7 18·9 15·2 12 20 1300 66·1 14·8 15·3
10 40 1300 58·8 18·1 14·2 12 20 1400 65·6 14·2 14·4
10 40 1400 57·9 17·4 13·3 12 20 1500 65·1 13·7 13·6
10 40 1500 57·0 16·8 12·4 12 20 1600 64·6 13·2 12·9
10 40 1600 56·3 16·2 11·8 12 20 1700 64·1 12·8 12·2
10 40 1700 55·6 15·7 11·3 12 20 1800 63·6 12·5 11·6
10 40 1800 54.9 15·3 10·8 12 20 1900 63·1 12·1 11·1
10 40 1900 54·2 14·9 10·4 12 20 2000 62·6 11·9 10·6
10 40 2000 53·5 14·5 10·0 12 20 2100 62·1 11·6 10·2
10 40 2100 52·9 14·1 9·6 12 20 2200 61·7 11·4 9.7
10 40 2200 52·3 13·7 9·3 12 25 1000 67·0 18·0 19·3
10 50 800 62·7 24·7 22·1 12 25 1100 66·4 17·0 17·8
10 50 900 61·4 23·4 19·9 12 25 1200 65·9 16·2 16·6
10 50 1000 60·4 22·0 18·1 12 25 1300 65·3 15·5 15·6
10 50 1100 59·4 20·8 16·7 12 25 1400 64·8 14·9 14·7
10 50 1200 58·4 19·9 15·4 12 25 1500 64·2 14·4 13·8
10 50 1300 57·4 19·1 14·3 12 25 1600 63·7 14·0 13·1
10 50 1400 56·5 18·4 13·5 12 25 1700 63·1 13·6 12·4
10 50 1500 55·8 17·7 12·8 12 25 1800 62·6 13·2 11·8
10 50 1600 55·0 17·1 22·2 12 25 1900 62·0 12·9 11·2
10 50 1700 54·2 16·6 11·6 12 25 2000 61·5 12·6 10·7
10 50 1800 53·4 16·2 11·1 12 25 2100 61·0 12·3 10·3
10 50 1900 52·8 15·7 10·7 12 25 2200 60·6 11·9 9·9
10 50 2000 52·1 15·2 10·3 12 30 1000 66·5 18·7 19·6
10 50 2100 51·4 14·8 9·9 12 30 1100 65·9 17·7 18·2
10 50 2200 50·7 14·4 9·5 12 30 1200 65·3 16·9 16·9
10 60 800 61·7 25·9 22·3 12 30 1300 64·6 16·2 15·8
10 60 900 60·6 24·3 20·1 12 30 1400 64·0 15·6 14·9
10 60 1000 59·5 22·9 18·3 12 30 1500 63·4 15·1 14·0
10 60 1100 58·4 21·7 16·8 12 30 1600 62·8 14·7 13·2
10 60 1200 57·3 20·8 15·5 12 30 1700 62·2 14·3 12·5
10 60 1300 56·4 19·9 14·6 12 30 1800 61·6 13·9 11·9
10 60 1400 55·5 19·2 13·8 12 30 1900 61·1 13·5 11·3
10 60 1500 54·6 18·5 13·1 12 30 2000 60·6 13·1 10·8
10 60 1600 53·8 18·0 12·5 12 30 2100 60·1 12·7 10·4
10 60 1700 53·0 17·4 11·9 12 30 2200 59·6 12·4 10·0
10 60 1800 52·3 16·8 11·4 12 35 900 66·6 20·5 21·7
10 60 1900 51·5 16·3 10·9 12 35 1000 66·0 19·3 19·9
10 60 2000 50·8 15·8 10·5 12 35 1100 65·3 18·4 18·4
10 60 2100 50·2 15·4 10·1 12 35 1200 64·7 17·5 17·1
10 60 2200 49·7 14·9 9.7 12 35 1300 64·0 16·8 16·0
10 70 800 61·0 26·9 22·5 12 35 1400 63·4 16·3 15·0
10 70 900 59·8 25·1 20·3 12 35 1500 62·7 15·7 14·1
10 70 1000 58·6 23·7 18·5 12 35 1600 62·1 15·3 13·3
10 70 1100 57.4 22·6 16·9 12 35 1700 61·4 14·9 12·6
10 70 1200 56·4 21·6 15·8 12 35 1800 60·9 14·4 12·0
132
Velocity Proi:,. Per cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
12 35 1900 60·4 13·9 11·5 12 70 1700 57·7 17·3 13·1
12 35 2000 59·8 13·5 11·0 12 70 1800 56·9 16·8 12·5
12 35 2100 59.3 13·2 10·5 12 70 1900 56·3 16·4 12·0
12 35 2200 58·8 12·9 10·1 12 70 2000 55·8 15·9 11·5
12 40 800 66·9 22·6 24·1 12 70 2100 55·2 15·5 11·1
12 40 900 66·2 21·1 22·0 12 70 2200 54·6 15·2 10·7
12 40 1000 65·5 19·9 20·1
12 40 1100 64·8 18·9 18·6 14 20 1700 66·8 12·5 13·3
12 40 1200 64·1 18·1 17·3 14 20 1800 66·5 12·1 12·7
12 40 1300 63·4 17·4 16·2 14 20 1900 66·1 11·8 12·2
12 40 1400 62·7 16·8 15·2 14 20 2000 65·8 11·4 11·7
12 40 1500 62·0 16·3 14·2 14 20 2100 65·5 11·1 11·2
12 40 1600 61·4 15·8 13·4 14 20 2200 65·1 10·8 10·8
12 40 1700 60·8 15·3 12·7 14 25 1500 66·9 14·1 15·0
12 40 1800 60·2 14·8 12·1 14 25 1600 66·5 13·6 14·3
12 40 1900 59·7 14·3 11·6 14 25 1700 66·1 13·1 13·6
12 40 2000 59·1 14·0 11·0 14 25 1800 65·8 12·7 13·0
12 40 2100 58·5 13·6 10·6 14 25 1900 65·4 12·4 12·4
12 40 2200 57·9 13·3 10·1 14 25 2000 65·0 12·0 11·9
12 50 800 66·3 23·7 24·7 14 25 2100 64·6 11·7 11·4
12 50 900 65·2 22·2 22·4 14 25 2200 64·3 11·5 11·0
12 50 1000 64·7 21·0 20·5 14 30 1400 66·7 15·3 16·2
12 50 1100 63·9 20·0 19·0 14 30 1500 66·3 14·7 15·3
12 50 1200 63·1 19·2 17·6 14 30 1600 65·9 14·1 14·5
12 50 1300 62·4 18·5 16·4 14 30 1700 65·5 13·7 13·8
12 50 1400 61·6 17·9 15·3 14 30 1800 65·1 13·3 13·2
12 50 1500 60·9 17·2 14·4 14 30 1900 64·7 12·9 12·6
12 50 1600 60·3 16·6 13·6 14 30 2000 64·3 12·6 12·1
12 50 1700 59·7 16·0 12·9 14 30 2100 63·9 12·3 11·6
12 50 1800 59·0 15·5 12·3 14 30 2200 63·5 12·0 11·1
12 50 1900 58·4 15·1 11·7 14 35 1300 66·7 16·5 17·4
12 50 2000 57.7 14·7 11·1 14 35 1400 66·3 15·8 16·4
12 50 2100 57·1 14·3 10·7 14 35 1500 65·8 15·2 15·5
12 50 2200 56·6 14·0 10·3 14 35 1600 65·4 14·7 14·7
12 60 800 65·7 24·7 25·1 14 35 1700 65·0 14·2 14·0
12 60 900 64·8 23·2 22·8 14 35 1800 64·5 13·8 13·4
12 60 1000 64·0 22·0 20·8 14 35 1900 64·1 13·4 12·8
12 60 1100 63·1 21·0 19·2 14 35 2000 63·6 13·1 12·2
12 60 1200 62·3 20·2 17·8 14 35. 2100 63·2 12·8 11·7
12 60 1300 61·4 19·5 16·5 14 35 2200 62·7 12·5 11·2
12 60 1400 60·7 18·6 15·5 14 40 1200 66·8 17·7 18·9
12 60 1500 60·0 17·9 14·6 14 40 1300 66·3 16·9 17·7
12 60 1600 59.3 17·3 13·8 14 40 1400 65·9 16·2 16·6
12 60 1700 58·6 16·7 13·0 14 40 1500 65·4 15·6 15·7
12 60 1800 57.9 16·2 12·4 14 40 1600 64·9 15·1 14·9
12 60 1900 57·2 15·8 11·8 14 40 1700 64·4 14·7 14·2
12 60 2000 56·6 15·4 11·3 14 40 1800 64·0 14·2 13·5
12 60 2100 56·1 15·0 10·9 14 40 1900 63·5 13·9 12·9
12 60 2200 55·5 14·6 10·5 14 40 2000 63·0 13·5 12·3
12 70 800 65·1 25·6 25·4 14 40 2100 62·5 13·2 11·8
12 70 900 64·2 24·1 23·1 14 40 2200 62·1 13·0 11·3
12 70 1000 63·3 22·9 21·1 14 50 1100 66·7 19·6 20·7
12 70 1100 62·4 21·9 19·4 14 50 1200 66·1 18·6 19·3
12 70 1200 61·4 21·1 17·9 14 50 1300 65·6 17·8 18·0
12 70 1300 60·7 20·1 16·7 14 50 1400 65·1 17·1 17·0
12 70 1400 59·9 19·3 15·6 14 50 1500 64·5 16·5 16·0
12 70 1500 59·2 18·5 14·7 14 50 1600 64·0 16·0 15·2
12 70 1600 58·4 17·9 13·9 14 50 1700 63·5 15·5 14·4
133
Velocity Prop. Par cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
14 50 1800 63·0 15·1 13·7 16 60 1400 66·7 17·5 18·5
14 50 1900 62·4 14·7 13·1 16 60 1500 66·3 16·9 17·5
14 50 2000 61·9 14·4 12·5 16 60 1600 65·8 16·3 16·6
14 50 2100 61-4 14·1 11·9 16 60 1700 65·4 15·7 15·8
14 50 2200 61·0 13·7 11·5 16 60 1800 65·0 15·3 15·1
14 60 1000 66·7 21·5 22·7 16 60 1900 64·6 14·8 14·5
14 60 1100 66·1 20·3 21·0 16 60 2000 64·2 14·5 13·8
14 60 1200 65·5 19·4 19·6 16 60 2100 63·8 14·1 13·3
14 60 1300 64·9 18·6 18·3 16 60 2200 63·3 13·8 12·8
14 60 1400 64·4 17·9 17·2 16 70 1300 66·7 18·9 20·0
14 60 1500 63·8 17·3 16·3 16 70 1400 66·2 18·1 18·8
14 60 1600 63·2 16·7 15·4 16 70 1500 65·8 17·4 17·8
14 60 1700 62·6 16·3 14·6 16 70 1600 65·3 16·8 16·9
14 60 1800 62·0 15·9 13·8 16 70 1700 64·9 16·3 16·1
14 60 1900 61·5 15·5 13·2 16 70 1800 64·4 15·8 15·3
14 60 2000 61·0 15·0 12·6 16 70 1900 64·0 15·4 14·6
14 60 2100 60·5 14·6 12·1 16 70 2000 63·5 15·0 14·0
t4- 60 2200 60·0 14·2 11·6 16 70 2100 63·1 14·7 13·4
14 70 900 66·9 23·6 25·1 16 70 2200 62·6 14·4 12·9
14 70 1000 66·2 22·2 23·0
14 70 1100 65·6 21·0 21·3 20 50 2000 13·4 15·8
14 70 1200 65·0 20·1 19·9 20 50 2400 12·3 13·4
14 70 1300 64·3 19·3 18·6 20 50 2800 11·3 11·7
14 70 1400 63·7 18·6 17·4 20 50 3200 10·6 10·4
14 70 1500 63·1 18·0 16·4 20 50 3600 9·9 9·4
14 70 1600 62·5 17·5 15·5 20 50 4000 9.4 8·6
14 70 1700 61·8 17·0 14·7 20 75 2000 14·9 16·1
14 70 1800 61·3 16·5 13·9 20 75 2400 13·5 13·8
14 70 1900 60·7 16·0 13·3 20 75 2800 12·5 12·0
14 70 2000 60·2 15·5 12·7 20 75 3200 11·6 10·7
14 70 2100 59.7 15·1 12·2 20 75 3600 10·9 9·7
14 70 2200 59·2 14·7 11·7 20 75 4000 10·3 8·9
20 100 2000 15·9 16·4
16 25 2100 66·9 11·5 12·3 20 100 2400 14·5 14·0
16 25 2200 66·6 11·2 11·8 2.0 100 2800 13·4 12·3
16 30 1900 66·9 12·7 13·6 20 100 3200 12·4 11·0
16 30 2000 66·6 12·3 13·0 20 100 3600 11-7 9·9
16 30 2100 66·3 12·0 12·5 20 100 4000 11-1 9·0
16 30 2200 66·0 11·7 12·0 20 125 2000 16·8 16·6
16 35 1800 66·8 13·5 14·4 20 125 2400 15·3 14·2
16 35 1900 66·5 13·1 13·8 20 125 2800 14·1 12·5
16 35 2000 66·1 12·7 13·2 20 125 3200 13·1 11·2
16 35 2100 65·8 12·4 12·7 20 125 3600 12·3 10·0
16 35 2200 65·5 12·1 ·12-2 20 125 4000 11·7 9·1
16 40 1700 66·7 14·4 15·2 20 150 2000 17·5 16·9
16 40 1800 66·4 13·9 14·6 20 150 2400 16·0 14·5
16 40 1900 66·0 13·5 13·9 20 150 2800 14·7 12·7
16 40 2000 65·7 13·1 13·4 20 150 3200 13·7 11·2
16 40 2100 65·4 12·8 12·8 20 150 3600 13·0 10·1
16 40 2200 65·0 12·5 12·4 20 150 4000 12·2 9·3
16 50 1500 66·8 16·2 17·2 20 175 2000 18·2 17·0
16 50 1600 66·4 15·6 16·4 20 175 2400 16·5 14·6
16 50 1700 66·0 15·1 15·6 20 175 2800 15·2 12·8
16 50 1800 65·7 14·6 14·9 20 175 3200 14·2 11·3
16 50 1900 65·3 14·2 14·2 20 175 3600 13·4 10·3
16 50 2000 64·9 13·8 13·6 20 175 4000 12·6 9-4
16 50 2100 64·5 13·5 13·1 20 200 2000 18·8 17·2
16 50 2200 64·1 13·2 12·6 20 200 2400 17·0 14·8
134
Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch Velocity Prop. Per cent. Diam. Pitch
knots HP RPM efficiency in. in. knots HP RPM efficiency in. in.
20 200 2800 15·7 12·8 25 200 3600 13·2 12·0
20 200 3200 14·7 11·4 25 200 4000 12·5 11·0
20 200 3600 13·8 10·4 30 50 2000 12·8 22·3
20 200 4000 13·1 9·5 30 50 2400 11·4 18·7
25 50 2000 12·9 18·7 30 50 2800 10·5 16·1
25 50 2400 11·7 15·6 30 50 3200 9·7 14·0
25 50 2800 10·7 13·7 30 50 3600 9·1 12·3
25 50 3200 10·0 12·2 30 50 4000 8·6 11·4
25 50 3600 9.4 11·0 30 75 2000 13·8 22·5
25 50 4000 9·0 10·0 30 75 2400 12·5 18·8
25 75 2000 14·1 18·8 30 75 2800 11·5 15·9
25 75 2400 12·8 16·1 30 75 3200 10·7 14·1
25 75 2800 11·9 14·1 30 75 3600 10·0 12·8
25 75 3200 11·1 12·5 30 75 4000 9·5 11·7
25 75 3600 10·5 11·2 30 100 2000 14·7 22·5
25 75 4000 9·9 10·3 30 100 2400 13·3 18·6
25 100 2000 15·1 19·2 30 100 2800 12·2 16·2
25 100 2400 13·8 16·4 30 100 3200 11·4 14·5
25 100 2800 12·7 14·3 30 100 3600 10·8 13·0
25 100 3200 11·9 12·7 30 100 4000 10·2 11·9
25 100 3600 11·2 11·4 30 125 2000 15·5 22·4
25 100 4000 10·6 10·4 30 125 2400 14·0 18·8
25 125 2000 16·0 19·5 30 125 2800 12·9 16·5
25 125 2400 14·5 16·6 30 125 3200 12·1 14·7
25 125 2800 13·5 14·4 30 125 3600 11·4 13·2
25 125 3200 12·6 12·9 30 125 4000 10·8 12·0
25 125 3600 11·8 11·6 30 150 2000 16·2 22·2
25 125 4000 11·2 10·6 30 150 2400 14·6 19·0
25 150 2000 16·7 19·7 30 150 2800 13·5 16·7
25 150 2400 15·2 16·8 30 150 3200 12·6 14·8
25 150 2800 14·1 14·6 30 150 3600 11·9 13·4
25 150 3200 13·1 13·0 30 150 4000 11·3 12·1
25 150 3600 12·4 11·8 30 175 2000 16·7 22·5
25 150 4000 11·7 10·8 30 175 2400 15·1 19·3
25 175 2000 17·3 19·9 30 175 2800 14·0 16·8
25 175 2400 1·5·9 16·9 30 175 3200 13·1 15·0
25 175 2800 14·6 14·8 30 175 3600 12·4 13·5
25 175 3200 13·6 13·2 30 175 4000 11·7 12·3
25 175 3600 12·8 11·9 30 200 2000 17·2 22·7
25 175 4000 12·1 10·9 30 200 2400 15·6 19·4
25 200 2000 17·9 20·1 30 200 2800 14·5 17·0
25 200 2400 16·4 17·0 30 200 3200 13·5 15·1
25 200 2800 15·1 14·9 30 200 3600 12·8 13·5
25 200 3200 14·1 13·3 30 200 4000 12·1 12·4
M ax. HP
at RPM 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
DIESELS
PERKINS 4. 108 1.76litre 4-cylinder 47@3600 20 29 36 42 46 49
PERKINS 4.236 3.86litre 4-cylinder 72@2500 51 64 72
PERKINS 6.354 5.8 litre 6-cylinder 115@2800 75 93 107 119
BLMC 1.5 litre 4-cylinder 37@3500 18 24 30 34 37
BMC 2.2 litre 4-cylinder (not nowin prod uction ) 55@3500 25 34 42 50 55
BLMC 2.5litre 4-cylinder 62@3500 32 43 52 58 62
BLMC 3. 8litre 4-cylinder 66@2400 46 60 69
BLMC 5.7litre 6-cylinder 100@2400 72 90 104
FORD 2401E 2.36litre eg. Tempest 4/58 & Sabre 58@3600 25 34 43 49 57
FORD 2402E 3.54litre eg. Tempest 6/87 & Sabre 87@2500 37 50 63 75 86
FORD 2712 4. 15litre eg. Tempest 4/80, Sabre, Parsons, Mermaid 80@2500 55 70 80
FORD 2715E 6. 22litre eg. Tempest 6/120, Sabre, Parsons, Mermaid 120@2500 79 104 120
FORD 2701E 4litre 4-cylinder eg.old Parsons Pike Mk .11 72@2500 47 62 72
FORD 2704E 5.95litre 6-cylinder eg. old Parsons Barr acud a Mk . I I 109@2500 72 97 109
FORD 592E 3.6litre 4-cylinder, old Parsons Pike & Sutton Mer ak 63@2250 45 58 65
FORD 590E 5.4litre 6-cylinder, Sutton Sai ph 96@2250 69 89 100
M ERCEDES OM 636 1.76 litre 4-cylinder 40@3300 19 26 32 38 41
PETROL ENGINES
T EM PEST (ex NEWAGE) VEDETTE Mk . 8 BLMC 1100c.c. 7.5:1C.R. 28@3000 15 20 25 28
NEWAGENavigator BMC 1622c.c. 7.2:1C.R. 38@3000 22 30 36 38
BMC948c.c. OHV 7.2:1C.R. Minor 1000 1956A35cars 34@4800 14 19 24 28 31
BMC 998c.c. 8.3:1 C.R. modern engine 42@5000 19 24 29 33 37
BMC 1498c.c. 8.3:1C. R. JB, J2, J4v ans 50@4200 31 34 39 43 48
BMC 1622 8.3:1 C.R. eg. Morris Oxford 61@4500 30 40 48 54 60
FORD 1OOE 1172c.c.side v alve 7: 1C.R. 36@4500 16 21 26 30 33
FORD 105E 1000 c.c. O.H.V. 7. 5:1C.R. 40@4500 20 26 30 34 37
FORD 115E 1200 c.c. Old Worth am Bl ake 48@4500 24 30 36 41 45
FORD 109E 1300 c.c. Parsons Se a Urchin Mk.11 Fisherbo y engines 50@4500 24 31 38 43 47
FORD 122E 1500 c.c. Se a Urchin Mk . Ill � 57@4500 30 38 45 50 54
FORD 2251E 1100c.c. CrossflowWorth am Bl ake 40@4500 19 24 29 34 38
FORD 2251E 1300c.c. } Fisherbo y engines C.R. 8:1 48@4500 22 28 34 40 45
FORD 2254E 1600c.c. 58@4500 27 34 42 49 55
FORD 2261E 1100c.c. l CrossflowC. R. 9:1 39@4000 19 24 30 35 39
FORD 2264 1600c.c. f 60@4000 31 39 47 54 60
Prop Sizes (diam. plus pitch in inches)
DIRECTDR IVE I 1.5:1 REDUCTION I 2:1 REDUCTION I 3:1 REDUCTION
PERKINS4.108 25.6 22.5 20.3 18.67 16.8 15.7 33.2 29.5 26.5 24.0 22.3 20.7 40.1 35.2 31.9 29.0 26.6 24.7 45.8 41.3 37.8 34.7 32.3
PERKINS4.236 29.5 25.3 22.5 37.9 33.0 29.2 45.3 39.6 35.2 59.4 51.1 45.3
PERKINS6.354 31.4 27.1 24.3 22.4 40.9 35.2 31.3 28.4 48.7 42.5 37.6 34.2 63.4 54.5 49.0 44.4
BLMC1.5 litre 24.2 21.4 19.1 17.5 16.1 31.7 27.5 25.0 22.7 20.9 38.0 33.1 29.7 27.4 25.1 49.5 43.2 38.7 35.2 32.4
BMC2.2 litre 25.7 22.7 20.4 18.7 17.4 33.3 29.3 26.6 24.2 21.4 40.2 35.1 31.7 29.3 26.8 52.3 45.8 41.0 37.8 34.9
BLMC2.5 litre 27.1 23.5 21.2 19.3 17.8 34.7 30.6 27.6 24.9 22.7 42.1 36.6 33.1 30.1 27.4 54.7 47.6 42.5 38.8 35.8
BLMC3.8 litre 28.9 25.0 22.3 37.2 32.6 29.0 44.5 39.1 35.0 58.3 50.6 44,9
BLMC5.7 litre 31,2 26.9 24.2 40.5 35.0 31.2 48,3 42,2 37.4 63.0 54.1 48.7
FORD2401E 25.7 22.7 20.5 18.7 17.5 33.3 29.3 26,8 24,2 22.4 40,2 35.2 31,9 29.2 27,0 52.3 45.8 41.2 37.6 35.2
FORD2402E 27.8 24.2 22.0 20.2 19.0 35.7 31.5 28.5 26.0 24.2 43,0 37.8 34.3 31.4 29.2 56.1 49,0 44.0 40.9 38.1
FORD2712 29.9 25.2 23.0 38.4 33.6 29.7 45.9 40.2 35.9 60.2 51.9 46.2
FORD2715E 31.7 27.7 25.0 41.3 35.8 32.0 49.2 43,3 38.3 64.0 55.7 50.0
FORD2701E 29.0 25.2 22.5 37.3 32.8 29.2 44.7 39.3 35.2 58.6 50.8 52.1
FORD2704E 31,2 27.3 24.4 40.5 35.4 31,4 48.3 42.8 37.7 63.0 54.9 56.2
FORD592E 28.8 24.9 22.1 37.0 32.4 28.6 44.4 38.8 34.6 58.1 50,3 44,3
FORD590E 31.0 26.9 24.0 40.5 34.9 30.9 47.9 42.1 37.2 62.5 54,0 48,3
MERCEDES 24.4 21.7 19.3 17.9 16.5 32.0 27.9 25.3 23.1 21.2 38.2 33.6 30.0 28.0 25.5 49,8 43,7 39,1 35.9 33.0
TEMPEST 23.4 20.8 18.5 16.8 30.8 26,6 24,0 22.0 37.o 32.2 28.6 26.4 48,0 41.7 37,6 34,0
NEWAGE 25.1 22.2 19.8 17.9 32.7 28.7 25.9 23.1 39.2 34.4 30.8 28.0 51.1 44.8 39.9 35,8
BMC948 c.c. 19.2 17.8 16.3 15.3 14.3 25.0 22.9 21.4 19.8 18.5 30.6 27.5 25.7 23.9 22.3 39.2 35,8 33.1 30,8 28.8
BMC998 c.c. 20.6 18.4 17.0 15,8 14,9 26.3 23.9 22.1 20.4 19.1 32.0 28.3 26,5 24.6 23.0 41.3 37,3 34.2 31,8 29.8
BMC1498 c.c. 22.3 19,6 17.9 16,6 15,6 28.8 25.6 23.2 21,4 20.1 34.6 30.4 28.1 25.8 24, 1 45.0 39.5 36.0 33.3 31.3
BMC1622 22.2 20.2 18.6 17.3 16.5 28.6 26.4 24.1 22.2 21.0 34.4 31,4 29.2 26.8 25.0 44.8 40.6 37,4 34.8 32.6
FORD100E 19.8 18.0 16,6 15.5 25.6 23.4 21.7 20.1 18.7 31.2 27.9 26.0 24.2 22.6 40.2 36,5 33,6 31.2 29.2
FORD105E 20.9 18.6 17.1 15.9 26,6 24,3 22.2 20.6 19.1 32.2 28.8 26.7 24.7 23.0 41.7 37.8 34.4 32.0 29.8
FORD115E 21.4 19.1 17.7 16.5 27.5 25.0 22.9 21.2 19.8 33.1 29.7 27.7 25.6 23.8 43,2 38.7 35.5 33.0 30.9
FORD109E 21.4 19.2 17.9 16.6 27.5 25.2 23.1 21.4 20.0 33.1 29.8 28.0 25.8 24.0 43.2 38.9 35.9 33,3 31.2
FORD122E 22.2 20.0 18.4 17.1 28,6 26,1 23.8 22.0 20,6 34.4 31.2 28.8 26.4 24.6 44,8 40,3 37,0 34,2 32.0
FORD2251E 20.7 18.4 17.0 15,9 26.3 23.9 22.1 20.6 19,2 32.0 28.3 26.6 24,7 23.1 41,3 37.3 34.2 32.0 30.0
FORD2251E
FORD2254E
21.1 18.9
21.8 19.6
17.5
18.2
16,4
17.0
27.0 24.6
28.1 25.6
22.7
23.5
21.1
21.9
19,9
20.6
32.7 29.2
33.8 30.4
27.4
28.4
25.4
26.4
23.8
24.6
42,4 38,3
44,0 39.5
35.2
36,6
32.9
34.1
30.9
32.0
.....
FORD2261E 20.7 18.4 17.1 16,0 26.3 23.9 22.2 20.6 19.3 32.0 28.3 26.7 24.7 23.2 41,3 37.3 34.4 32.1 30.0 'I
FORD2264 22.3 20.1 18,6 17.3 28.8 26.2 24.0 22.2 21.0 34.6 31.3 29,0 26.8 25.0 45.0 40,5 37,3 34,8 32.6
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Noise
To quieten an engine fitted in a boat does not cost very much, but
does require an understanding of the basic principles of noise reduc
tion. Car engines, relatively speaking, are quiet engines because this
aspect is of importance in the motoring world. They also score over
many marine engines in that they have at least four cylinders.
Before setting down the principles of noise reduction, how and
where is the noise produced? There are two main causes, the exhaust
note and the mechanical noise coming from the body of the engine.
The exhaust noise is easy to reduce: fit a large silencer or even two,
and lead the exhaust pipe overboard. An acceptable level of exhaust
noise is quite easily achieved. The noise coming from the body of the
engine is the subject of this chapter.
Noise and vibration go together. When an engine is running, every
part of it is caused to vibrate at various frequencies by the explosions
inside the cylinders. The surface of each part in contact with the air
causes the air to vibrate and these vibrations in the air constitute
noise. Anything connected to the engine is also caused to vibrate.
Thus, if the engine is rigidly mounted to the engine bearers, it is
inevitable that the hull will be set into vibration (50). It is obvious
from this that even if the engine itself is heavily soundproofed noise
will still come from the hull, cabin, and floorboards. It is therefore a
Noise
Vibration
50 A rigidly mounted engine causes the whole boat to act like a
noise box
139
prerequisite that the engine is flexibly mounted, i.e. isolated from the
hull. On the other hand, if you do not want to flexibly mount the
engine for some reason, then it is still worth soundproofing the
engine casing, as a noticeable reduction can be made, but it can never
be as effective as when flexible mounts are fitted. In fact, when a car
engine is mounted on its normal rubber mounts in a boat, the noise
level, even with a completely exposed engine, will be quite accept
able. Imagine, then, what quietness can be achieved by following
through with the recommendations of this chapter.
It is important to install the engine on the correct mounts. If they
are too soft or too hard they may well increase the noise and vibra
tion transmitted to the hull. Obviously the thing to do is to use the
standard car rubber mounts--there is no reason why they should be
unsuitable providing the propeller thrust is taken by a separate thrust
bearing (see Chapter Five).
All the connections to the engine must be flexible. The petrol pipe
should have a length of armoured flexible tubing, while the exhaust
pipe should either have a flexible section or be mounted like a car's,
with bonded rubber/steel mountings or supported so that movement
is possible. If the pipe is held down some way from the engine, it will
usually be found that the flexibility of the long pipe run itself will be
sufficient Carburettor air intake 'hiss' can be silenced by fitting the
normal car-type air filter. The amount of noise produced by induc
tion is considerable-try running your car without the air filter.
Noise reduction consists of putting a barrier between the engine
and the ear. An engine casing or box is the obvious way to do this,
but for complete effectiveness it is essential to completely surround
the engine inside a practically airtight casing-no air paths must be
left open along which noise could travel. For instance, holes for the
gear lever or starting handle must be covered up. It is no good just
fitting a casing down to the floorboard level and forgetting about the
bilge. Noise will leak out into the bilge and up through gaps in the
floorboards just as water will escape out of a hole in a pipe. Some
times the engine bearers can be made the sides of a lower box (51)
and blanking pieces fitted at each end of the engine between the
bearers to form the ends. The bottom of the boat will then form the
bottom of the enclosure.
The first essential is thus to completely box in the engine; this is
called 'insulation'. Now if the 'box' was made of sheet steel it would
be found that the noise was just as great, if not greater. This leads to
140
Hinged box
51 Using the engine bearers and hull bottom to form pan of the
engine 'capsule'
the next topic: noise absorption. Inside a steel box the noise waves
emanating from the engine will strike the hard steel sides and be
reflected like light from a mirror successively from surface to sur
face. The noise inside the box will build up as in an echo chamber to
a far higher level than if the box were not there at all. The inside
surfaces of the box need to be lined with a material which reduces the
degree of reflection so that the noise waves do not bounce off so
easily. This type of material is called the absorber, and materials
which are soft or hairy are usually better than harder substances.
Polyurethane foam, felt, glass wool are all good absorbers, but not
polystyrene foam. Lining the inside surfaces with an absorber will
reduce the noise inside the box and consequently the noise heard
outside the box. The insulator (the plywood or steel box) will have
less work to do.
The criterion for a good sound insulator (the ply or steel box) is
sheer mass. The weight per square foot is the governing factor and
consequently lead sheet is often used as the insulator.
Having fitted the insulator (the casing) and the absorber (the soft
lining inside) the noise now heard will be caused by the sound
striking the insulator and making it vibrate. (This is how noise passes
through a solid partition.) The whole exterior surface of the casing
will be vibrating and causing sound waves to be sent on their journey
141
to the ear. Apart from making the casing heavier and heavier this
vibration can only be made less by damping the panels comprising
the casing. This is done with material which resists vibration within
itself-for instance, lead and bituminous compounds like those used
on motor cars to dampen door panels, etc.
Insulation reduces
noise coming Light partition
through partition
--- ---
Reduced noise
Damping reduces
panel drumming
---
--
Reduced noise
Practical details
Air
Flexible mounts
r ,
--� ------
� - _,
-�e - _ _J
I ,:-- ------
__, .. ____:::::::,---
Noise trap
Complete enclosure below floorboard level Asbestos seal
Articulated carden shaft to thrust block
The only answer to this is to fit an extraction fan and an air inlet.
There is one very important safety point to make here. In the case of
a petrol engine it is vital to have a fan, and just as vital to have a non
sparking fan. Suppose that while stationary the carburettor over
flowed because of a bit of dirt under the needle. It takes only a drop
of petrol to produce an explosive mixture in the confines of an engine
box. When you came to operate the starter motor, the commutator of
which is bound to produce sparks, a violent explosion would occur.
Similarly, if the electric fan is not 'spark-proofed' (flameproof motor
casing and plastic fan) it may well set off any explosive mixture. This
No direct line of sight
Absorbing material
Absorber/isolator
foam Thin aluminised
polythene or
perforated sheet
Cabin Engine
space
many times that of the engine's weight, will hardly react to the
vibration of the engine, thus very little vibration is passed to the hull.
This method has been successful on several large yachts.
Another trick is to flexibly mount the engine on a heavy rigid raft
which in turn is rubber mounted to the hull. The mass or weight of
the raft needs to be large (approaching that of the engine) which is a
disadvantage although two engines may be mounted on the same
raft.
Some small production motor boats (notably the Orrskar and
Tresfjord 28 - Norwegian motor cruisers) employ a 'cassette' which
is a raft combined with an acoustic hood. The engine is installed on
rubber mounts in a sound-proofed box with connections for services
(water, fuel etc) rather like those generator sets that can be supplied
housed in an acoustic box. This box is then rubber mounted to the
hull. This concept gives very good results in the case of the above
mentioned boats. The arrangement is not easy to engineer into an
existing boat - the layout needs to be worked out at the design stage.
All too often the results of noise reducing techniques are
disappointing. People are lured into buying expensive noise reducing
material retailed by the boat industry, the materials themselves being
147
Table showing typical absorption values of different
materials within the audible frequency range.
"'"'
Frequency cycles/second
125 250 500 1000 2000 4000
f-, Absorption %
Glass fibre mat I" 10 25 45 60 70 70
2" 20 45 65 75 80 80
Mineral wool 2" 25 55 70 75 80 90
Felt
Polyurethene flex foam
r
2" 25 50
15 40
85
75
95
85
90 90
Exp. polystyrene I" 10 25 55 20 10 15
Rubber sponge r 5 5 10 35
Insulating fibre board f' 10 15 25 30 30 40
Cork I" 5 10 20 55 60 55
Plywood r 15 25 20 15 10 5
Perforated asbestos
acoustic board
-r 15 45 50 50 55 65
very well engineered but the results in a boat depend so much on how
the material is fitted. Those that are insulating as well as absorbing
need to be fitted in an airtight fashion all around the engine enclosure
- something that is often impossible on an existing boat.
Putting the engine in a box before installing it in a boat of course
makes the task of achieving good insulation so much easier, while the
structure-borne noise is much reduced by the double isolation
achieved by the two sets of rubber mountings.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Conversion to Paraffin
The successful conversion of a petrol engine to run on paraffin is
very attractive from a financial point of view. Any of the types of
vaporising oil cost about the same as diesel fuel. The best grade of
paraffin, or kerosene as it is sometimes called, is TVO (Tractor
Vaporising Oil), but this often cannot be obtained nowadays. The
refined grades of lighting and heating paraffin are quite suitable.
Lamp oil should be avoided. This is one of the problems of running
an engine on this fuel-it is not usually available at the waterside.
Compared to petrol, paraffin is a 'dirty' fuel in that it forms soot
and carbon more readily, thus necessitating more frequent de-coking,
plug cleaning and lubricating oil changes. To start the engine, petrol
is still required, and only when the engine is warm will it run
satisfactorily on paraffin. This entails a dual fuel system with two
tanks, two pipes and a two-way cock. If the conversion of the engine
to run on paraffin is not done well, vaporisation when idling for any
length of time will cease and the engine will stall. The carburettor has
then to be drained and the engine started afresh on petrol. Similarly,
restarting after a five minute stop, at a lock for instance, may be
dicey on paraffin, so that it could mean that one has to remember to
switch over to petrol shortly before stopping, so that the carburettor
is full of petrol ready for the next start. This has to be done in any
case if stopping for more than a few minutes.
Some people revolt against the smell of paraffin, especially if it is
not being burned very well and there is a following wind, causing the
exhaust gases to drift into the cockpit.
Paraffin has a lower calorific value compared to petrol, and in
consequence the power output of the engine will be less. Also it is
usually found that a high compression ratio engine (over, say, 7 : 1)
does not run well on paraffin. 'Pinking' is quite likely and the
compression ratio has to be reduced, so again the power drops. This
rules out paraffin engines for fast boats, and it also creates difficulties
with modern car engines with their compression ratios of 9: I.
For the successful converter, fuel bills will be cut to a half of the
petrol costs. The consumption does go up a little per horsepower
produced, but a consumption of about O· 7 pints per HP per hour is
usually achieved. There are not many manufacturers on the market
149
nowadays who offer paraffin engines from which conversion parts
could be utilised. As far as I know, no car engine conversion firm
produces parts for running on paraffin.
Conversion
The best advice is to tackle the conversion by trial and error. Ob
viously a separate tank is required for the paraffin. The petrol tank
can be much smaller, perhaps only a gallon in capacity and gravity
fed, while the paraffin is pump-fed from the larger and lower tank.
The two pipes from the tanks join at a two-way cock at the carburet
tor. The transfer from petrol to paraffin is then achieved by switching
over the cock, but it will take a minute or two before all the petrol in
the float chamber is used up.
A larger carburettor jet opening will be required when running on
paraffin in order to give a richer fuel-air mixture. The best setting
can only be found by trial and error, until the engine is running
evenly with the least rich setting, on both the slow-running and main
jets, in the case of a fixed jet carburettor. Smelling and observing the
exhaust gases will also help to decide whether the fuel is being burned
correctly. A strong paraffin smell indicates unburnt fuel, the result of
which is lubricating oil dilution because of unburned paraffin trick
ling dowit into the crankcase. After a long period of running this can
be detected by the level in the sump rising rather than falling. The
lubricating value of paraffin is not very great, so this is something to
be avoided. Valve burning, heavy carbon deposits and plug fouling
are symptoms of incorrect combustion.
One way in which vaporisation can be more readily achieved is to
pre-heat the paraffin before it reaches the carburettor. This can be
achieved by wrapping the copper fuel pipe around the original ex
haust manifold, the exhaust pipe or even a hot water pipe (55). Other
methods include fitting a shroud over the bare exhaust manifold and
making the carburettor suck hot air from inside by means of an
extension pipe from the carburettor intake. On a similar theme a long
box can be fitted around the hot exhaust pipe and the carburettor
made to suck from the air inside. Alternatively, a heating box can be
fitted directly onto the carburettor and the exhaust gases can then be
led into and out of this box. The insertion of a pipe through the box
150
then leads hot air to the carburettor.
The best method of all involves heating the paraffin/air mixture as
it passes from the carburettor to the engine. Droplets of fuel are then
effectively vaporised. One way is to fit a heating box between the
carburettor and the engine. A t in. thick welded steel box about 6 in.
cube is suitable for small car engines. Another and better way is to
fabricate a new exhaust manifold rather like a water-cooled manifold
but with internal air pipes leading to the intake ports. Surrounded by
hot exhaust gases, the ingoing air and paraffin mixture is heated over
a large surface area. This method can only be applied where the
exhaust and inlet ports are on the same side of the engine.
Clean combustion is also helped by maintaining a high engine
temperature (as high as possible) of l 80 ° F unless a direct salt water
cooling system is employed. Only a few minutes are required after
starting the engine for the changeover to paraffin to be made without
the engine faltering.
Usually better results are obtained with a lowered compression
ratio. The old marine paraffin engines popular some years ago had
compression ratios of about 5 : 1. Again a trial and error basis is the
best policy, but the ratio can be reduced by fitting an extra cylinder
head gasket. Most manufacturers offer high or low compression
versions of their engines (the lower compression for export), the
difference being obtained either by the depth of the piston crown or
the depth of the cylinder head. Another way of reducing the com
pression ratio is by inserting a compression plate sandwiched be
tween two cylinder head gaskets.
The simple conversion does have the disadvantage that one has to
remember to switch over to petrol before stopping, otherwise the
carburettor float chamber has to be drained. Draining can be
arranged by drilling and tapping the bottom of the chamber and
fitting a small cock. Unless a remote cable control is arranged for the
two-way petrol paraffin cock the engine box lid has to be lifted and
the tap groped for. A way to overcome this is to have two SU electric
pumps (car type), one in each feed pipe, with switches on the instru
ment panel (55). Changeover is accomplished by switching off one
pump and switching on the other. The SU type of pump has a natural
non-return action, so syphoning from one tank to the other cannot
occur. On the other hand, if the tanks are above the level of the
carburettor, then both fuels will tend to flow whether the pumps are
switched on or not. The tanks must therefore be below the level of the
151
Tanks must be
below level of
Electric carb.
pumps
Paraffin tank
00 00
Carburettor
-
Carburettor
\ Heating
box
Austin 7
Sprocket welded on
�
Shear pin
in. diameter) and easily transmits the 6-8 HP necessary for canal
cruising. A Stuart Turner stern tube, thrust block and shaft are fitted,
the other bearings being standard RHP plummer blocks. A Mini
constant velocity joint is used complete with the drive shaft
Although the CV joint allows an angular discrepancy between the
two shafts, it still required accurate lining up of the plummer blocks
in the vertical and sideways planes. The rubber drive coupling on the
Mini might have been a better coupling, being a rubber spider joint
The gearbox is used unconverted, and at first fourth gear was used
for ahead ( 1 : 1) and reverse for astern. This meant that the power
astern was small, but later on the chain drive which was originally
156
1 : 1 was modified with a smaller lower sprocket. This meant that to
give the same propeller shaft revs the gearbox could be run in second
gear. Consequently the astern ratio was not very different from the
ahead ratio, thus giving better astern power.
Direct cooling is employed with a Parsons bronze pump driven off
the camshaft by means of a short length of water hose secured with
hose clips. A cooling coil in the sump and a water injected exhaust
silencer are fitted, but several sophistications are also employed. A
bypass from the outlet of the pump passes straight overboard and is
controlled by a tap. There is also a tap in the pipe leading to the
silencer, and by adjusting these two taps it is quite easy to maintain
the temperature at 170° -180 ° F. Being fresh and not salt water this
high temperature is permissible.
A further refinement is a two-way seacock whereby with the cock
in the down position the suction is taken from a pipe leading to the
bilges, thus pumping the bilges. The clutch is shifted by a hydraulic
car clutch mechanism adapted for the Austin 7, and foot operated.
Hand starting is possible from the output end of the gearbox as the
engine is high enough to allow the handle to be swung and because a
short piece of tube is welded to the sprocket and spirally slotted to
receive the starting handle. Reverse must be engaged to start, to
avoid one turning the engine over the wrong way.
VWengine
Plummer block
Thrust bearing
The BMC 2-2 is a very popular engine ashore and afloat although
the engine itself is not now in production. The parti
cular installation described here gives the 21 ft glassfibre boat a
speed of 14 knots, by virtue of the shape of the hull. It is a 'fast
displacement' hull, round-bilged but with a wide flat underside to the
transom, and a fine entry forward, a 'Seaworker' hull now moulded
by, among others, Colvic Craft. The high speed is achieved
using the full 43 HP of the engine, so the engine had to be
fully marinised. Cooling is by a Polar heat exchanger, a cooling coil
in the sump and a water-cooled exhaust manifold by Norris. Sea
water is circulated by a Jabsco 2620-200 pump belt driven off
the crankshaft. The fresh water side retains the original pump and
thermostat housing and is also fitted with a Polar header tank
mounted on the engine. Running temperature is an efficient 180 ° F.
The exhaust is run dry through galvanised water piping kept at least
an inch clear of any glassfibre or timber and lagged with asbestos
string for the first few feet.
The standard rubber mounts are fitted, which give a very low level
of vibration in the hull and help noise reduction. Drive to the half
coupling on the propeller shaft is taken through a Hardy Spicer
propeller shaft. A Fenner double taper roller bearing is fitted on the
propeller shaft to take the propeller thrust. Reasonable astern power
is achieved by the conversion of the gearbox. The driving gear on the
primary shaft was ground down and the third gear on the main shaft
welded to the primary shaft. Ahead is second gear now having a ratio
of l¾: 1, and astern, reverse, with a ratio of almost 3½: 1. The clutch
is incorporated into the gear lever in a similar fashion to the Leigh
conversion.
A 20 gallon steel tank in the stern locker feeds fuel through a
copper pipe to a glass filter bowl and hence to a CAV paper filter
mounted on the engine. Fuel consumption at full throttle is only 2
gallons an hour, cruising consumes one gallon an hour. As this boat
is used for family cruising a great deal of attention has been given to
noise reduction. Apart from the rubber mounts, the engine is en
closed in a casing with removable top and sides which extends right
down to the fibreglass skin of the hull. To give the engine sufficient
ventilation a Delco car-type extractor fan is fitted and interlocked
with the key starter, so that it is always running when the engine is
162
running. The fan extracts from the bilges and an inlet vent in the
form of a noise trap (54) is fitted in the aft end of the casing. The
inside surfaces of the ½ in. plywood casing are lined with k in. lead
sheet, and glassfibre wool I½ in. thick faced with pegboard.
A novel feature is the cabin heater. Before the hot water from the
heat exchanger goes overboard it passes through a brass car heater
unit complete with paddle-type fan. This unit is fitted on the inside of
the cabin bulkhead partly covered by mahogany plywood, and draws
air throu�h a hole in the bulkhead. Even when switched off the unit
gives off warmth useful for drying wet clothes, etc.
A rev counter is fitted on a panel above the wheel, together with a
temperature gauge (in the fresh water circuit), an oil pressure gauge
and an ammeter.
Because of the rapid increase in the cost of petrol the diesel engine is
now a very firm favourite. One of the most popular engines for
conversion is the BLMC 1-5 litre. It is virtually the smallest 4
cylinder diesel available. Small enough in physical size to be con
sidered as an auxiliary in a yacht and yet powerful enough (3 7 HP at
3600 r.p.m.) to propel quite large seagoing motor boats. With the
wide availability of conversion parts, marinisation is now converging
towards a standard form, and the CT Marine conversion described
here of this particular engine, is typical.
A kit of parts can be supplied to marinise the engine. Fittings to
adapt to a marine gearbox or an Enfield outdrive can be supplied.
The total cost, including a gearbox or outdrive is less than half of that
of a new l · 5 marine engine. But then there is also the cost of obtain
ing a basic engine complete with starter and alternator etc.
A Bowman combined heat exchanger/water cooled exhaust mani
fold is the biggest item in the kit and is simply bolted in place after
reversing the original inlet manifold. Both manifolds share the same
original studs and it takes two people to manoeuvre the combined
weight. A Jabsco pump complete with pulley is bolted to a pre-drilled
cast aluminium engine foot, itself bolted to the engine as is the
corresponding foot on the other side of the engine. A pulley to drive
the pump is fitted on the crankshaft pulley simply by the existing
large securing bolt. The original thermostat housing is discarded (but
the thermostat itself retained) and replaced by a new one merely to
163
facilitate pipe runs. Hose and hose clips (supplied) readily complete
the fresh water and salt water circuits.
A cast aluminium bell housing bolts directly to the block after the
existing stud holes in the block have been tapped out � in. Whit
worth. This bell housing has integral mounting feet and also six bolt
holes to correspond to a Borg Warner gearbox.
The only complication to the whole conversion is the drilling and
tapping of the flywheel to take a drive plate. Five or six holes are
involved; CT Marine will do the job if the flywheel is taken to them.
Also three pins on the face of the flywheel have to be removed by a
sharp tap with a hammer. For an Enfield outdrive a stub shaft with a
Dunlop Metalastic coupling can be supplied which bolts to the
flywheel. The stub shaft fits onto the input of the outdrive. In the case
of a Borg Warner box all that is required is to bolt the damper drive
plate to the flywheel. The splined input shaft of the gearbox mates
directly with this.
Four rubber mounts are supplied capable of taking the propeller
thrust. There is also a sump pump and fittings, a throttle bracket, an
air filter and a wiring loom.
A kit like this enables a conversion to be achieved every bit as
good as a professional one. All the parts are designed to make life as
easy as possible for the converter. But of course one pays for this
service.
If the basic engine is obtained cheaply one may be loath to spend
several hundred pounds on a conversion kit and a gearbox. Since the
main expenses are occasioned by the gearbox and the heat exchan
ger/manifold much money can be saved by converting the original
gearbox and having direct cooling or keel cooling. It may also be
possible to use the original exhaust manifold and the original rubber
mounts. The overall cost can de-escalate dramatically, but corre
spondingly the amount of time and effort spent on conversion
increases.
Golf diesel
This 1.5 litre diesel was specially designed for the Volkswagen Golf
car and as such has made a name for itself as being the first diesel to
compete in terms of performance and noise with a petrol engine. In
the Golf car it gives the same performance as the 1100 cc petrol Golf,
is as quiet and smooth as a petrol engine above about 30 mph and
164
gives over 50 m.p.g. It runs freely to 5,000 r.p.m. (giving 50 HP at this
speed) and cries out to be marinised. There are several companies in
Europe which produce marinised Golfs; Bootmotor of Berlin and
Pon Nautic of Holland are two, (the latter is imported into England
by Carvel Developments Ltd., of Bedford). Hawker Siddeley Marine
Ltd produce a version rated at either43 HP at4,000r.p.m. or 35 HP at
3,000 r.p.m. The engine features an overhead camshaft driven by a
toothed belt which drives the Bosch injection pump. The cylinder head
is of aluminium.
The Golf can be compared to the Leyland 1.5 litre which as
marinised by the numerous professionals weighs around 600 lbs
including a reduction gearbox, whereas the Petter Golf conversion
weighs 384 lbs. It is therefore an attractive engine for a small (say 16
foot) speedboat or in a twin installation it should make a 20 footer
plane. But its quietness and its light weight also make it attractive as a
yacht engine or for a displacement motor cruiser.
The car engine mounting points come at awkward positions so in a
boat it is likely that new brackets and conventional marine rubber
mounts will have to be used. Bowman do a combined manifold/ heat
exchanger for the Golf and Jabsco make a water pump to fit on the
front end driven off the camshaft. One of the reasons for the engine's
quietness is a high running water temperature (8 0-94° C) and
pressure (up to 19 p.s.i.) both points to be borne in mind when
marinising the cooling system. An oil cooler is essential for this
engine when installed in a boat. A separate expansion tank (as fitted
on the car), mounted on a bulkhead close to the engine but about a
foot higher than the top of the engine, is the best way to keep the
system free of air locks.
The paper element fuel filter on the car installation is mounted off
the engine and the fuel system is self-bleeding (at least it is with the
Bosch injection equipment - some earlier Golfs had CA V equipment
which was not self-bleeding). The self-bleeding design is extremely
useful, when changing filters for example. A magnetic cut-off valve
on the injection pump means that there is no need for a stop control
cable, the starter key can operate the cut-off valve so that starting and
stopping is achieved just as on a petrol engine. Heater plugs are fitted
one to each cylinder and these are switched on via the starter key. On
the car they are automatically switched off after about 20 seconds at
which point the engine will start instantly from cold. The whole fuel
and starting system can be used on a boat with the addition of an
165
extra fuel filter with a sediment/water bowl.
A large air intake housing containing a paper element filter is
another reason for the engine's quietness so this feature should be
retained. Since the engine in the car drives the front wheels, the
gearbox housing includes a differential and hence two output flanges
one to each wheel. Consequently gearbox conversion is far more
difficult than with back-wheel-drive car engines. A 63 amp/hour
battery is fitted to the car; on a boat a slightly larger capacity would
be advisable.
Volkswagen also produce, as industrial engines, a 5 and a 6
cylinder version of the Golf giving 65 and 75 HP respectively.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Corrosion
Seawater is highly corrosive. The salt causes it to be an electrolyte i.e.
capable of passing electric current. This means that two different
metals in seawater and in contact with each other (or connected
through an electrical path) will act like a battery and the metal lower
in the Series (see below) will be corroded, the other one being
protected or even plated with the first. Avoid using dissimilar metals
underwater or within the water cooling circuit. An aluminium
propeller on a bronze shaft or an aluminium thermostat housing on a
seawater-cooled engine would in both cases cause the aluminium to
be corroded extremely rapidly. Always use fasteners of a material as
high or higher in the Series than the material of the fitting - never
lower - because if there is any attack it will be spread out over a large
area of fitting rather than a small area of fastener.
Seacocks should be in gunmetal or silicon bronze or aluminium
bronze, never manganese bronze or brass. The latter two materials
suffer from de-zincification which means that in seawater the zinc in
the metals leaches out leaving a weak porous mass of copper.
Propeller shafts are often of manganese bronze and these should be
galvanically protected by wiring them up to a zinc anode. This can
stop de-zincification. Indeed a zinc anode should be fitted and wired
up as per the makers' instruction if any underwater fitting is of steel,
iron, brass, manganese bronze or stainless steel. The zinc anode must
not be painted. It will erode away in preference to the sterngear and
will last a year or two if it has been sized correctly.
Good materials for underwater use are gunmetal, silicon bronze,
aluminium bronze, nickel aluminium bronze, copper and copper
nickel.
Stainless steel
Stainless steel even Type 316 suffers from deep and local pitting
whenever it is wet but shielded from a flow of water e.g. under
barnacles or in wet wood or where a propeller nut, for example, bears
against the propeller hub. Never use stainless through-hull fasteners
underwater. If a stainless shaft or rudder is used it should be
protected with zinc anodes. The best commonly available type of
167
stainless steel is 316 (used to be known as EN58J). Type 304 is a
'lower' grade.
In clean freshwater corrosion is far less of a problem and brass
seacocks can be used and even mild steel shafts. But if the water is
slightly polluted then corrosion can rear its ugly head again. On a
seagoing boat stainless steel hose clips are very worth while.
A water injection bend is often an area of high corrosion because
hot seawater is squirted into the pipe. If it impinges onto the wall of
the pipe then rapid corrosion can be expected. The direction of the jet
of water should be down the centre of the pipe ideally achieved on a
bend. Cast iron and stainless steel are the usual metals for this bend,
the latter usually giving a better life.
Laying-up
When the boat is laid-up for the winter corrosion can be kept at bay
by flushing through the engine (if it is direct cooled) with fresh water
and then water mixed with inhibiting oil (e.g. Esso Cutwell or Rust
Ban 392, Shell Dromus oil B or BP Energol SB4). These oils are not
anti-freeze so the jacket should be drained for the winter after
flushing. There are also oils for inhibiting the crankcase - they give
off an anti-corrosion vapour (e.g. Esso Rust Ban 623, Shell Ensis, BP
Energol Protective oil 30). In mild winters it is sufficient to renew the
oil (with the normal type of oil) run the engine briefly and then seal
the exhaust (at the injection bend) intake the crankbase ventilation
orifices thus sealing the whole engine.
For cold climates there are also fuel preservative oils for diesels on
which the engine is run until the pump and injectors are full (e.g.
Shell Fusus A, BP Energol LM). A spray of WD40 or Supertrol
over the external areas of the engine will help to stop condensation
and rusting.
168
The Galvanic series
A metal lower down in the Series will be attacked by one higher up if
there is an electrical path between them (even damp wood can
provide that path). Stainless steel and Monel do not attack as much
as their position might indicate (hence stainless bolts in an
aluminium fitting are OK). The metals fall in the following order:-
Stainless steel (316)
Monel
Stainless steel (304)
Silver bronze
Nickel aluminium bronze
80/ 30 copper nickel
Lead
90/ 10 copper nickel
Gunmetal
Silicon bronze
Manganese bronze
Aluminium brass
Solder
Copper
Tin
Brass
Aluminium bronze
Steel & iron
Aluminium
Zinc
Magnesium
169
Appendix A
Lancing Marine
51 Victoria Road
Portslade
Sussex Tel 0273 410025
Marinising kits, engines, marine gearboxes, outdrives, jet units, Ford,
Perkins, Bedford, Mercedes, Gardner, VW Golf and BLMC diesels; Ford,
BMC Rover and Jaguar petrol engines. Propellers and sterngear. Many
installation components.
CT Marine Ltd
9 Paxton Place
London SE27 9SS Tel 01 761 7325
Kits and engines. Ford petrol 1100 and 1600 cross flow engines, Ford 4 and 6
cylinder diesels. British Leyland 1.5, 1.9, 2.5 and 5.7 litre diesels. Hurth,
PRM and Borg Warner gearboxes, and Enfield outdrives.
Petrami/1 ltd
Kingsway
Goole
North Humberside Tel 0405 2177
Marinising parts and kits.
Watermota Ltd
Abbotskerswell
Newton Abbot
South Devon
Tel 0626 66444
Marinising parts and installation equipment.
Sillette Ltd
13a Tabor Grove
Wimbledon
London SW19 Tel 0 I 947 8424
Conversion parts for Ford petrol engines and the smaller BL diesels and
Perkins 4 l08.
172
Tecmarine Ltd
Dap Dune Wharf
Wharf Road
Guildford
Tel 0483 505995
Marinising parts, propellers, sterngear.
Castoldi
Bluebird Marine Ltd, London Road, Bolney, Sussex. Tel 044482 303
Hamilton & Saifjet
Lancing Marine, 51 Victoria Road, Portslade, Sussex. Tel 0273 410025
Outjet
West Beach Motors Ltd, Stephenson Way Industrial Estate, Formby,
Liverpool. Tel 07048 70039
PP Jets
R G Parker(Engineering) Ltd, Units5-7 Ailwin Road, Moreton Hall, Bury St
Edmunds, Suffolk. Tel 0284 701568
Riva Calzoni
Sulzer Bros (UK) Ltd, Farnborough, Hants. Tel 0252 44311
UA
UA Engineering Ltd, Canal Street, Sheffield. Tel 0742 21167
FILTERS
Cl - European and American Engines, 82-84 Somerton Road, Liswerry,
Newport, Gwent. Tel 0633 277129
FLEETG UARD filter units, water separators, coalescers. Also engine oil -
postal monitoring service. Laboratory analysis of engine oil from sump can
indicate condition of engine. Useful as a warning for impending trouble but
also when buying a used engine.
Lucas CAV Ltd, PO Box 36, Warple Way, Acton, London W3. Tel 01 743
3111
Many varieties of fuel filters for diesel and petrol engines, including a
Waterstop type that can trigger a warning light if water caught in the filters
rises above a pre-set level.
175
PROPELLERS, STERN TUBES, PROP SHAFTS
Saildrives
The following leg units are available without an engine:-
Perkins Engines Ltd, Peterborough. Tel 0733 67411. Similar unit to Bukh
and suitable for an engine such as the 4108.
Barnes Marine Units, Riverside Road, Wroxham NRI 2 SUD. Tel Wroxham
2625
Enfield Industrial Engines Ltd, Somerton Works, Cowes, Isle of Wight. Tel
0983 294711
Sonic Sillette Ltd, 13a Tabor Grove, Wimbledon London SWl9. Tel 01 947
8424
176
HEAT EXCHANGERS
Kemper & Van Twist Diesel BY. 3300 AO. Dordrecht, Holland. Tel
078130155 Heat exchangers, oil coolers, keel coolers.
Polar Engineering Ltd, Pear Tree lane, Dudley, W. Midlands. Tel 0384
337950
E. J. Bowman (Birmingham) Ltd, Aston Brook Street East, Birmingham.
Heat exchangers - many types and special types, to fit, for instance, BLMC
1.5 and 2.5; Ford 2500, 271 I/2E, 2713/4/SE and 2704ET diesels; Ford V4
and V6 petrol engines. Combined heat exchanger and oil cooler for the
Bedford 220 and 330 and Perkins 4-108 diesels. Combined heat exchanger
and water cooled exhaust manifold for the Perkins 4-108 diesel (all these
heat exchangers have integral header tanks). Also many types of oil coolers,
separate header tanks, sump pumps, charge air coolers for turbo-charged
engines, and water-cooled manifolds for Bedford 220and 330, Ford 27 I 1/2E
and 2713/4/SE diesels. Heat exchanger/exhaust manifold for Golf diesel.
SPRING STARTERS
Lucas Marine Ltd. Marinised hand wound spring starter that fits in lieu of or
as well as an electric starter. See local Lucas distributor.
PLASTIC SEACOCKS
Action Hose Couplings, Unit 20, Bordon Industrial Estate, Bordon,
Hampshire. Tel 04203 3600
'Banjo' Lloyds approved ball valve type seacock.
Literature
Marine Engine Know-how
Perkins Engines Installation manual. Highly recommended and not just for
Perkins diesels.